Increased Mortality among Middle-Aged Women after Myocardial Infarction: Searching for Mechanisms and Solutions

Public and professional recognition of the prevalenceand clinical impact of coronary heart disease in women has risen over the past decade, fueled in part by studies showing disparities in the use of cardiac proce-dures between women and men (1–4). Reacting to the previously established view of coronary heart disease as primarily a male malady (5), researchers and clinicians have increased their attention to the mechanisms, treat-ment, and consequences of this condition in women. Some hospitals have developed new clinical programs specifically for women with heart disease. Recent evi-dence has suggested that sex disparities in treatment of myocardial infarction have diminished, at least among elderly patients (6, 7). Amid growing efforts to understand and improve the treatment of heart disease in women, Vaccarino an