Electrocardiographic and Cardiac Autonomic Indices - Implications of Sex-Specific Risk Stratification in Women After Acute Myocardial Infarction

Title:Electrocardiographic and Cardiac Autonomic Indices - Implications of Sex-Specific Risk Stratification in Women After Acute Myocardial Infarction

Volume: 22 Issue: 25

Author(s): Romy Ubrich, Petra Barthel, Anna Berkefeld, Katerina Hnatkova, Katharina M Huster, Michael Dommasch, Daniel Sinnecker, Alexander Steger, Georg Schmidt and Marek Malik

Affiliation:

Keywords: Women, heart rate, heart rate variability, heart rate turbulence, baroreflex sensitivity, QT width, QRS T-angle, AMI.

Abstract: Background: The debate on whether sex-specific predictive models improve risk stratification after myocardial infarction is ongoing. Methods: This review summarises the current clinical knowledge on sex-specific differences in post-infarction risk stratification parameters. Particular focus is given to electrocardiographic risk factors and indices of cardiac autonomic status. Results: Differences in the underlying pathophysiology between men and women are known. However, clinical findings often lead to uncertain conclusions for a number of risk predictors including, among others, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, heart rate turbulence, QT interval duration, and QRS-T angle. The review links recent findings in prognostic parameters with successful approaches in sex-specific non-invasive risk stratification. Conclusion: Disparities are described in the current clinical opinions on the relevance of investigated parameters in women and possible directions for further research in the field are given.

Cite this article as:

Ubrich Romy, Barthel Petra, Berkefeld Anna, Hnatkova Katerina, Huster M Katharina, Dommasch Michael, Sinnecker Daniel, Steger Alexander, Schmidt Georg and Malik Marek, Electrocardiographic and Cardiac Autonomic Indices - Implications of Sex-Specific Risk Stratification in Women After Acute Myocardial Infarction, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2016; 22 (25) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1381612822666160311115605