The characteristics of coronary arteries in angiography of women; a national-based registry in Iran

Abstract

Introduction: The current study aims to investigate the characteristics of coronary artery angiography (CAG) and the contributed factors to coronary artery disease (CAD) in women. Methods: The current cross-sectional study is derived from a national registry on cardiovascular disease known as the Persian cardiovascular disease registry (PCVDR). The demographic, medical, clinical and angiographic data of 39207 women underwent CAG have been retrieved. Results: Traditional CVD risk factors and the past medical history of cardiovascular events were statistically higher among those who aged over 50 years old (P-value<0.05) except smoking (P-value<0.001) and obesity (P-value<0.001) that were remarkably higher among younger subjects. Normal epicardial coronary artery was remarkably higher among younger women (49.1%) compared to those aging more than 50 years old (20.1%) (P-value<0.001). Regardless of age, LAD, RCA and LCX territories were involved with severe stenosis accounting for 58.8%, 37.7% and 36.2% of the individuals, respectively. Ectasia, aneurysm, calcified artery, thrombus formation and ostial lesion were remarkably higher among older individuals (P-value<0.05), but dissection was statistically higher in young women (P-value=0.012). The severity of coronary arteries involvement was associated with advanced age, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia and smoking (P-value<0.05); while obesity had an inverse association (P-value<0.001). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, women aging more than 50 years old are prone to be hospitalized for CVDs, require more intensive cardiac intervention and have more severe CAD involvements found in CAG. Age, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia and smoking were remarkably associated with more severe CAD; however, obesity had paradoxically an inverse association.