Background: The prognosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is distinctly worse in postmenopausal women than in age-matched men. Unstable angina before AMI is reported to protect left ventricular pump function during the left ventricular remodeling process in patients who have undergone successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). We postulate that left ventricular pump function may be different in postmenopausal women and age-matched men with unstable angina before AMI and successful PTCA.
Methods: Twenty-three postmenopausal women (aged 63 +/- 7 years) and 31 age-matched men (aged 65 +/- 6 years) with unstable angina before AMI and successful PTCA were investigated using radionuclide angiography in the late hospital phase.
Results: Global ejection fraction (EF), regional EF of the non-infarcted area, and the ratio of systemic arterial systolic blood pressure to left ventricular end-systolic volume (P:V ratio) were lower in women compared with those in men. Global EF, regional EF of the non-infarcted area, and the P:V ratio in women with left ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV) > or = 140 ml were significantly lower than in those with a left ventricular EDV of less than 140 ml, but no significant differences were noted in these indexes with regard to left ventricular EDV in men.
Conclusion: Sex may play an important role in the left ventricular remodeling process in postmenopausal women, especially those with a dilated left ventricle.