Treat heart failure faster in women

Heart defects in women need to be treated faster

11/18/2011

A new study has examined the gender differences in congenital heart disease, the Fallot tetralogy (TOF). Study Director PD Dr. med. Samir Sarikouch of the Hannover Medical School (MHH) found out with a research team of the Competence Network Congenital Heart Defects that women have to be operated on earlier than men.

Tetralogy of Fallot
The heart disease Fallot tetralogy is diagnosed when four different components occur together: First, there is a narrowing of the outflow tract of the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery. On the other hand, the Herzkammerscheidewand is defective. This defect occurs just below the main artery. In addition, there is a thickening of the muscles of the right ventricle. In addition, a malformed or missing heart valve of the pulmonary artery often occurs. A lack of oxygen supply to the body with so-called hypoxic seizures is the result. Affected babies can be recognized by the striking blue-red color of the skin and mucous membranes. These seizures can cause brain damage. In the worst case, the child dies. An operative correction should be made within the first 18 months of life (Source: Deutsches Herzzentrum München)

The study
The study examined more than 400 patients with congenital heart disease at 14 heart centers in Germany. The researchers focused on the gender differences in disease progression. The study found that women's hearts are smaller than men's hearts when normalizing to a uniform body size. Women's hearts with Fallot tetralogy are therefore much less resilient. PD Dr. Samir Sarikouch reports: „ The long-term course of the disease is also different in that women with comparable residual findings must be reoperated sooner to avoid irreparable stress on the right ventricle.“ If these operations are too late, heart failure and heart failure can occur. Dr. Sarikouch continue: „ So far we have neglected in the congenital heart defects that women's hearts must be treated differently than men's hearts. The guidelines for reoperations in the case of tetralogy of Fallot should be reconsidered and take gender into account in the future. "The study was published in the current issue of the journal" Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. "Scientists want to identify a procedure for the approximately 15,000 affected patients in Germany that makes it possible to create individual risk analyzes. (ag)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann