Gender differences in ischemic heart disease among the Middle-Eastern population

Abstract

Background/Aim. Despite substantial improvements in the outcomes of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in women, it continues to be the leading cause of morbidity and mor-tality. This paper aimed to study the gender-based differ-ences among the Middle-Eastern population presented with IHD. Methods. This was a prospectively designed study where IHD patients who had an indicated coronary angiography (CA) performed at the tertiary cardiac center between 1st September 2014 to 1st September 2015 were analyzed. IHD patients were classified into two groups: Stable IHD (SIHD) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Results. A total of 400 IHD patients had completed cor-onary angiographic data. About 70% of the patients were diagnosed with ACS and 30% with SIHD. Females were older (64 ± 12 years vs 59 ± 13 years, p < 0.004) and had higher body mass index (34 ± 7 kg/m2 vs 29 ± 5 kg/m2, p < 0.001) compared to males. Females were more diag-nosed with hypertension (87% vs 62%, p < 0.001) and dia-betes mellitus (76% vs 58%, p < 0.001) compared to males. Among patients with ACS, males tended to have more ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (37% vs 12%, p < 0.001) whereas females presented more with non-STEMI (45% vs 17%, p < 0.001. Conclusion. Middle-Eastern fe-males tended to have more adverse risk factors, presented more with non-STEMI, and had fewer rates of in-hospital complications. © 2021 Inst. Sci. inf., Univ. Defence in Belgrade. All rights reserved.