• Pratik Pimple, Muhammad Hammadah, Kobina Wilmot, Ronnie Ramadan, Ibhar Al Mheid, Oleksiy Levantsevych, Samaah Sullivan, Ernest V Garcia, Jonathon Nye, Amit J Shah, Laura Ward, Puja Mehta, Paolo Raggi, J Douglas Bremner, Arshed A Quyyumi, and Viola Vaccarino.
• Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
• Am. J. Med. 2018 May 1; 131 (5): 540547.e1540-547.e1.

BackgroundMental stress-induced myocardial ischemia is a frequent phenomenon in patients with coronary artery disease. Women with coronary artery disease tend to have more mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia and more chest pain/anginal symptoms than men, but whether the association between mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia and angina burden differs in women and men is unknown.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study with experimental manipulation of 950 individuals with stable coronary artery disease. Chest pain/angina frequency in the previous 4 weeks was assessed with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire's angina-frequency subscale. Mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia was assessed with myocardial perfusion imaging during mental stress (standardized public speaking task). Presence of mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia was based on expert readers and established criteria. A conventional (exercise or pharmacologic) stress test was used as a control condition.ResultsOverall, 338 individuals (37%) reported angina; 112 (12%) developed mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia, and 256 (29%) developed conventional stress ischemia. Women who reported angina had almost double the probability to develop mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia (19% vs 10%, adjusted prevalence rate ratio, 1.90; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-3.46), whereas there was no such difference in men (11% vs 11%, adjusted prevalence rate ratio, 1.09; 95% confidence interval, 0.66-1.82). No association was found between angina symptoms and conventional stress ischemia for women or men. Results for ischemia as a continuous variable were similar.ConclusionsIn women, but not in men, anginal symptoms may be a marker of vulnerability toward ischemia induced by psychologic stress. These results highlight the psychosocial origins of angina in women and may have important implications for the management and prognosis of women with angina.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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