Research In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Heart attacks in women: Women with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE ACS) benefit as much as men from coronary intervention, according to a meta-analysis of eight randomized clinical trials including 3,075 women and 7,075 men. Results of the study, led by Michelle O'Donoghue, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, appear in the July 2 Journal of the American Medical Association. The eight trials, conducted between 1970 and 2008, compared invasive treatment to conservative therapy of NSTE ACS and collected sex-specific data on death, myocardial infarction and rehospitalization for at least 12 months of follow-up. Among women with biomarkers showing they are at high risk for myocardial infarction, an invasive therapy reduced the risk of death, myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome by 33%. The invasive strategy was not associated with better outcomes in women without the biomarker for high risk