[Characteristics of coronary diseases in women].

Clinical picture of coronary artery disease is different in men and women. Later incidence of coronary disease in women than in men, presence of less typical symptoms, lower specificity of non invasive diagnostic tests as well as higher mortality during percutaneous or surgical revascularization are underlined. Aim of the study was to examine clinical variables, diagnostic and treatment methods in women with coronary disease on the basis of retrospective analysis of patients hospitalized in the Department of Coronary Artery Disease of the Jagiellonian University Medical School in Cracow between 1991 and 1999. 929 patients aged 31-95 years mean 56.95 +/- 10.02 years were enrolled in the study. Clinical usefulness in women with coronary disease of diagnostic tests: electrocardiographic exercise test, exercise thalium-201 scintigraphy and stress echo-cardiography with dobutamine were analyzed. The highest sensitivity was found in exercise scintigraphy (92.9%) compared to ECG exercise test (80.6%) and stress echocardiography with dobutamine (76.9%). The highest specificity characterized stress echocardiography with dobutamine (76.9%) versus exercise scintigraphy (34.7%) and ECG exercise test (25.9%). Between 1991 and 1999 women with coronary artery disease consisted 19.4% of all patients hospitalized in the Department of Coronary Artery Disease in Cracow. Among patients investigated with coronary angiography there were 18.2% of women. Among percutaneously revascularized patients women constituted 17.8%. In the analyzed period 3.5-fold increase of the number of women with CAD hospitalized in the Department of Coronary Artery Disease in Cracow, 7.5-fold increase of the number of women investigated with coronary angiography and 10.5-fold increase of the number of percutaneously or surgically revascularized women was observed. On the basis of performed diagnostic tests 650 women (69.9%) were treated pharmacologically. In 157 patients (16.9%) percutaneous coronary angioplasty was performed, in 118 patients (12.7%) coronary artery bypass surgery was done. In 4 women (4.3%) heart transplantation was performed.