Cardiac emergencies in women, such as acute coronary syndromes, acute heart failure, and cardiac arrest, are associated with a high risk of adverse outcomes and mortality. Although women historically have been significantly underrepresented in clinical studies of these diseases, the guideline-recommended treatment for these emergencies is generally the same for both sexes. Still, women are less likely to receive evidence-based treatment compared to men. Furthermore, specific diseases affecting predominantly or exclusively women, such as spontaneous coronary dissection, myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, and peripartum cardiomyopathy, require specialized attention in terms of both diagnosis and management. In this clinical consensus statement, we summarize current knowledge on therapeutic management of these emergencies in women. Key statements and specific quality indicators are suggested to achieve equal and specific care for both sexes. Finally, we discuss several gaps in evidence and encourage further studies designed and powered with adequate attention for sex-specific analysis.
Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: D Adlam reports research support from BeatSCAD, grants from Astra Zeneca and Abbot Vascular, and consulting fees from General Electric Inc. S Halvorsen has received speaker honoraria from Novartis, Astra-Zeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Novo Nordisk, unrelated to this work. C Hassager reports research grants to the institution from Novo Nordisk Foundation, Lundback Foundation and Danish Heart Foundation, unrelated to this work. L Holmvang reports speaker fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Astra-Zeneca. S Price is an ESC Board member. A Rakisheva reports speaker honoraria from Roche, Novartis and Astra Zeneca. GMC Rosano reports consulting fees/speaker honoraria from Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Menarini, Servier CSL and Vifor, unrelated to this work. Marta de Riva, A Sambola, F Schiele, and Eva Swahn, have nothing to declare.
(© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)