Heart Scans Miss Women's Disease
New research reveals that standard imaging scans can miss dangerous plaque in women's arteries, leading to underdiagnosis and delayed treatment of heart disease. The findings highlight the importance of gender-specific approaches to cardiac care and the need for improved diagnostic methods for women.
- Plaque often builds differently in female arteries, tending to be softer, more evenly spread out, and less calcified than the hard, concentrated blockages more typically found in men. - Common coronary artery calcium (CAC) scans are designed to detect hard, calcified plaque, meaning they can miss the more dangerous, non-calcified "vulnerable" plaque that is more prevalent in women. - A study in the journal *Circulation* found that the risk of a major cardiac event (death, heart attack, or hospitalization) began at a lower plaque burden for women—around 20%—compared to 28% for men. - Women's coronary arteries are biologically smaller than men's, so a smaller amount of plaque can have a more significant and disproportionate impact on blood flow. - Heart disease was historically researched almost exclusively in men, leading to a male-centric diagnostic model and a persistent knowledge gap about how the disease presents and progresses in women. - While chest pain is the top heart attack symptom for all, women are more likely to also experience other symptoms like nausea, unexplained fatigue, and pain in the jaw, neck, or back. - Researchers are developing new diagnostic tools, including AI-enhanced electrocardiograms (EKGs) and fine-tuned cardiac MRIs, to create more accurate, sex-specific risk assessments for female patients.
