Managing Ischemic Heart Disease in Women: Role of a Women's Heart Center.

Purpose Of Review: Heart centers for women (HCW) were developed due to the rising cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in women in the United States in the early 1990s. Our review encompasses the epidemiology, risk factors, diagnostic strategies, treatments, and the role of HCW in managing women with ischemic heart disease (IHD).

Recent Findings: HCW use a multidisciplinary team to manage women with IHD.

N-Terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and coronary microvascular dysfunction in women with preserved ejection fraction: A report from the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation-Coronary Vascular Dysfunction (WISE-CVD) study.

Background: Women with symptoms and signs of ischemia, preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and no obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), often have coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), and are at risk of future heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is used to evaluate HF and myocardial ischemia. Relationships between NT-proBNP and CMD are not well defined in this population.

Not typical angina and mortality in women with obstructive coronary artery disease: Results from the Women's Ischemic Syndrome Evaluation study (WISE).

Background: Women frequently present with symptoms not typical of angina (NTA) making ischemic heart disease recognition, diagnosis and treatment challenging. We compared mortality in women with obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) with NTA vs typical angina (TA).

Methods: We studied 326 Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) participants undergoing coronary angiography for suspected myocardial ischemia with core-lab measured obstructive CAD.

Sex and gender medicine in physician clinical training: results of a large, single-center survey.

Background: "Sex and Gender Medicine" is a novel medical discipline that takes into account the effects of sex and gender on the health of women and men. The Institute of Medicine in the USA declared in its 2001 and 2010 statements that being a woman or a man significantly impacts the course of diseases, and therefore, this fact must be considered in diagnosis and therapy. We evaluated the representation of Sex and Gender Medicine in clinical training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a large, tertiary, non-profit, academic medical training center in the Western United States.

Heart failure hospitalization in women with signs and symptoms of ischemia: A report from the women's ischemia syndrome evaluation study.

Background: Women with signs and symptoms of ischemia, no obstructive coronary artery disease, and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction enrolled in the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study have an unexpectedly high rate of subsequent heart failure (HF) hospitalization. We sought to verify and characterize the HF hospitalizations.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on 223 women with signs and symptoms of ischemia, undergoing coronary angiography for suspected coronary artery disease followed for 6±2.

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for myocardial perfusion and diastolic function-reference control values for women.

Angina, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) are more common in women and are associated with adverse cardiovascular prognosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is established for assessment of left ventricular (LV) morphology and systolic function and is increasingly used to assess myocardial perfusion and diastolic function. Indeed, stress CMRI allows measurement of myocardial perfusion reserve index (MPRI) using semi-quantitative techniques, and quantification of LV volumetric filling patterns provides valuable insight into LV diastolic function.

Corneal nerves in health and disease.

Corneal nerves are responsible for the sensations of touch, pain, and temperature and play an important role in the blink reflex, wound healing, and tear production and secretion. Corneal nerve dysfunction is a frequent feature of diseases that cause opacities and result in corneal blindness. Corneal opacities rank as the second most frequent cause of blindness.