Coronary artery disease in women. Risk factors, evaluation, treatment, and prevention.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. Unfortunately, the problem of cardiovascular disease in women has been largely ignored as women have been enrolled in limited numbers or excluded entirely from many of the major trials on which treatment of cardiovascular disease have been based. Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that a gender bias against aggressive intervention and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women may exist. This article reviews the risk factors, methods of identification, and treatment of coronary artery disease in women, as well as the potential benefits of postmenopausal estrogen.