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Does gender affect the rates of abnormal exercise stress echocardiography in patients with asymptomatic severe aortic

Mordehay Vaturi1, Daniel Weisenberg, Idit Yedidya

  • 1The Dan Sheingarten Echocardiography Unit and Valvular Clinic, Department of Cardiology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petach Tikva, Israel. mvaturi@clalit.org.il

The Journal of Heart Valve Disease
|April 6, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Despite lower exercise capacity, women with severe aortic stenosis (AS) show similar abnormal exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) results as men. This finding is crucial for accurate AS assessment and management decisions in both genders.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Echocardiography
  • Clinical Assessment

Background:

  • Patient gender influences coronary artery disease (CAD) and potentially aortic stenosis (AS) management.
  • Aortic stenosis shares features with CAD, suggesting gender may impact AS assessment.
  • Exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) is used for AS management decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of gender on the assessment of severe asymptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) using exercise stress echocardiography (ESE).

Main Methods:

  • 160 patients with severe asymptomatic AS and preserved left ventricular function underwent ESE.
  • Patients were compared based on gender (89 males, 71 females).
  • Follow-up data was collected for 133 patients (83%) for a mean of 644 days.

Main Results:

  • No significant gender differences were found in age, heart rates, blood pressure, aortic valve area, or CAD prevalence.
  • Female patients exhibited lower exercise capacity (shorter duration, lower load) but similar AS-defining exercise parameters.
  • Aortic valve replacement rates and timing were comparable between genders.

Conclusions:

  • Asymptomatic women with severe AS demonstrate similar rates of abnormal ESE findings compared to men.
  • Limitations in exercise capacity in women do not alter the interpretation of ESE for AS severity.
  • Gender does not appear to significantly influence the assessment of severe asymptomatic AS by ESE.
Abstract

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