Abstract & Overview
Introduction: To date, no study in published literature has investigated the prevalence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) among Filipino women diagnosed with ACS. This is a pilot study. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of obstructive CAD among Filipino women and categorize them as ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-STEMI (NSTEMI), or unstable angina (UA); and to determine the risk factors associated with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) among Filipino women in terms of age, smoking history and comorbidities, in comparison with Filipino men. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed from November 2011 through September 2015 using information from patients listed at Philippine ACS Registry of the Philippine Heart Association. The collected data included demographic information such as sex, age, smoking history, comorbidities, medical management, cardiac procedures and mortality. Results: The study population was composed of 3,346 patients, 31.6% (n=1,059) of whom were females. Out of the 1,169 (34.9%) patients who underwent cardiac catheterization, 25.8% (n=302) were females. All these female patients who underwent cardiac catheterization—whether diagnosed with STEMI (n=133), NSTEMI (n=131), or UA (n=38)—had single- or multiple-vessel disease. In the overall study population, the risk factors that showed statistically significant association with ACS (p<0.05) were age (mean age 59.39 vs 66.60 years), hypertension (73.9% vs 80.5%), diabetes (36.1% vs 42.9%), smoking history (67.8% vs 15.6%), prior MI (11.0% vs 8.6%), previous catheterization (3.5% vs 2.1%) and history of transient ischemic attach (TIA; 1.4% vs 1.0%). Conclusion: There was a 100% prevalence of obstructive CAD among Filipino women who underwent cardiac catheterization with a diagnosis of STEMI, NSTEMI, or UA. Hypertension and diabetes were more prevalent among women, while smoking history, prior MI, previous catheterization, and history of TIA were more prevalent among the men. Men diagnosed with ACS were younger than the women.