Heart attack death risk differed between women and men by age
A registry study of 167,174 adults found higher death risk in women under 70 than in men, but the opposite at older ages.
17 years
Limit: Patients without a heart ultrasound during hospitalization were left out
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort study examined 167,174 adults aged 18 and older in the SWEDEHEART registry who had a first heart attack. All had a heart ultrasound during hospitalization. Researchers compared deaths from any cause by sex, age and heart pumping function. The analyses covered four periods from 2005 to 2022.
After adjustment for age, women under 70 had higher death risk than men, while women aged 70 and older had lower risk. This pattern appeared across all levels of heart pumping function and became more evident over time. In women under 60, the higher risk was most pronounced when pumping function was significantly reduced. Accounting for other illnesses and treatment at hospital discharge did not materially change the results.
Why it matters
The researchers called for more study of how age and sex interact in long-term survival after a heart attack.
Caveats
This observational study, reported as a conference abstract, cannot establish cause and effect. The findings cover adults with a first heart attack who had a heart ultrasound during hospitalization; the abstract did not give absolute death rates or follow-up length.
- p2y12 inhibitors
- Percutaneous coronary intervention
- P2RY12
- Left ventricular systolic dysfunction
- Myocardial infarction
- Humans
The paper
Sex differences in myocardial infarction patients with or without reduced ejection fraction
Karolinska Institutet Danderyd Hospital
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
