Open AccessGender-Related Differences in Clinical Presentation and Angiographic Findings in Patients with Ischemia and No Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease (INOCA): A Single-Center Observational Registry
Author(s) -
Mauro Gitto,
Francesco Gentile,
Alexandra N. Nowbar,
Alaide Chieffo,
Rasha AlLamee
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of angiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.293
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1615-5939
pISSN - 1061-1711
DOI - 10.1055/s-0040-1709500
Subject(s) - medicine , fractional flow reserve , coronary artery disease , cardiology , angiology , coronary arteries , stenosis , population , angiography , ischemia , stress testing (software) , presentation (obstetrics) , dobutamine , radiology , artery , coronary angiography , hemodynamics , myocardial infarction , environmental health , computer science , programming language
Ischemia and no obstructive coronary arteries (INOCA) is a common clinical presentation, with a variety of causes that are often not fully investigated in routine clinical practice. The goal of our study was to characterize a real-world population of patients with INOCA, with a deeper focus on symptoms and stress test findings. The study population consisted of 435 patients who underwent diagnostic coronary angiography for anginal symptoms and/or evidence of myocardial ischemia at non-invasive imaging. In all patients angiography demonstrated nonobstructive coronary artery disease (CAD, less than 30% luminal diameter stenosis or fractional flow reserve > 0.8 and/or instantaneous wave-free ratio > 0.89). Fifty-four percent of the patients were women. Atypical clinical presentation was more common in women (59.5 vs. 49.5%, p = 0.037). Women were more likely to have normal coronary arteries than men (41.8 vs. 16.2%, p < 0.001), and less likely than men to have hemodynamically non-significant CAD (32.1 vs. 55.1%, p < 0.001). No significant correlation between typicality of symptoms and evidence of ischemia was found in those patients (244/435, 56.1%) who had either dobutamine stress echocardiography or electrocardiogram stress test. INOCA is a common clinical condition, prevalent in women often presenting with atypical symptoms.