|
|
PREVENTION – WOMENS' CARDIOVASCULAR
HEALTH
Research
WISE: Womens' Ischemia Syndrome
Evaluation Study
This multi-center study begun in 1996 followed 1000 women who had
experienced symptoms of ischemia and were either scheduled for or had
already undergone angiography. Some of the key findings were that
pre-menopausal women with lower estrogen levels had a higher risk for heart
disease. They also showed that the use of statins did not affect
reproductive hormone levels in women. One of the major findings in this
study was that women without angiographic evidence of coronary artery
blockage, but with symptoms of ischemia did have evidence of underlying
cardiac disease by MRI spectroscopy. 20% of women with no angiographic
blockages were noted to have a positive MR spectroscopy test during
exercise, indicating inadequate coronary perfusion. The study is now focused
on investigating the reasons why this phenomenon occurs, with some
investigators suggesting that in these symptomatic women with a negative
angiogram, pathology may exist in smaller-caliber vessels. They believe that
womens' microvasculature is not easily visualized during a conventional
angiogram.
 WISE
Study
|
|