Sex-Specific Aspects in the Pathophysiology and Imaging of Coronary Macro- and Microvascular Disease

Floor Groepenhoff, Sophie H Bots, Elise L Kessler, Ariane A Sickinghe, Anouk L M Eikendal, Tim Leiner, Hester M den Ruijter

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Abstract

Sex differences in coronary artery disease (CAD) are well established, with women presenting with non-obstructive CAD more often than men do. However, recent evidence has identified coronary microvascular dysfunction as the underlying cause for cardiac complaints, yet sex-specific prevalence numbers are inconclusive. This review summarises known sex-specific aspects in the pathophysiology of both macro- and microvascular dysfunction and identifies currently existing knowledge gaps. In addition, this review describes current diagnostic approaches and whether these should take underlying sex differences into account by, for example, using different techniques or cut-off values for women and men. Future research into both innovation of imaging techniques and perfusion-related sex differences is needed to fill evidence gaps and enable the implementation of the available knowledge in daily clinical practice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-46
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Cardiovascular Translational Research
Volume13
Issue number1
Early online date30 Aug 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2020

Keywords

  • Coronary artery disease
  • Coronary flow reserve (CFR)
  • Coronary imaging
  • Fractional flow reserve
  • Index of microcirculatory resistance
  • Microvascular disease
  • Microvascular dysfunction
  • Sex differences

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