Sex Differences in Cardiac Stresses and CVD Implications
CVD, or cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. However, the incidence of fatal cardiac events is not equal between the sexes. In the last thirty-five years, more women have died of cardiovascular disease than men, a result of women being more likely to die after a first heart attack, coronary artery bypass surgeries, and more prone to sudden death. There has been recent research done in an attempt to determine the cause of such differences in regards to physiological mechanisms.
One particular study involved 60 subjects (28 men and 32 women) of relatively similar age and blood pressures. The actual analysis included taking sequential MRI images throughout the contraction cycle of the heart, strain calculations, and statistical analysis. This is the first study fully accounting for 3D data collection and analysis. It was found that men had lower circumferential and longitudinal strains compared to women (in the area of 10-13%). This image (a left ventricular contou
r plot) graphically illustrates the discrepancy of circumferential strain between men and women. The area shaded blue indicates greater strain values in women, while that in yellow or red indicates higher values for men. Using myocardial systolic strain as indicator of myocardial contractile function, this data shows that there exists a fundamental difference in this function between men and women.
The implications of this research are pretty substantial in regards to explaining the difference in symptomology and fatality of cardiovascular diseases in the two genders. By taking another step toward understanding the contributing factors to the behavior of CVD, researchers come one step closer to finding treatment methods to combat it. This study also reveals the diagnostic and therapeutic danger of comparing a diseased patient’s cardiovascular function to average values taken of the entire population as opposed to that of his or her respective gender. With a better understanding of the underlying factors of CVD, hopefully steps can be taken so that one day it is no longer the single greatest killer in the United States.
http://www.biomedical-engineering-online.com/content/10/1/76
One particular study involved 60 subjects (28 men and 32 women) of relatively similar age and blood pressures. The actual analysis included taking sequential MRI images throughout the contraction cycle of the heart, strain calculations, and statistical analysis. This is the first study fully accounting for 3D data collection and analysis. It was found that men had lower circumferential and longitudinal strains compared to women (in the area of 10-13%). This image (a left ventricular contou
r plot) graphically illustrates the discrepancy of circumferential strain between men and women. The area shaded blue indicates greater strain values in women, while that in yellow or red indicates higher values for men. Using myocardial systolic strain as indicator of myocardial contractile function, this data shows that there exists a fundamental difference in this function between men and women.The implications of this research are pretty substantial in regards to explaining the difference in symptomology and fatality of cardiovascular diseases in the two genders. By taking another step toward understanding the contributing factors to the behavior of CVD, researchers come one step closer to finding treatment methods to combat it. This study also reveals the diagnostic and therapeutic danger of comparing a diseased patient’s cardiovascular function to average values taken of the entire population as opposed to that of his or her respective gender. With a better understanding of the underlying factors of CVD, hopefully steps can be taken so that one day it is no longer the single greatest killer in the United States.
http://www.biomedical-engineering-online.com/content/10/1/76
posted by Kathryn Kudlaty at 2:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home