title: Gender differences in coronary plaque characteristics in patients with stable angina: a virtual histology intravascular ultrasound study.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare culprit coronary plaque characteristics between female and male patients with stable angina using virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS). The target population consisted of three hundred and sixty-four consecutive patients with stable angina who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after VH-IVUS. The baseline characteristics and VH-IVUS results were compared between 72 female and 292 male patients. Culprit coronary plaque histological composition ratios, which were classified as fibrous (FI)%, fibro-fatty (FF)%, dense-calcium (DC)% and necrotic core (NC)%, were evaluated by VH-IVUS. The HbA1c (6.4 ± 1.2% vs. 5.9 ± 1.0%, p < 0.0001), total cholesterol (202 ± 33 mg/dL vs. 189 ± 34 mg/dL, p = 0.004), and LDL-cholesterol (118 ± 32 mg/dL vs. 110 ± 27 mg/dL, p = 0.03) were higher in female patients compared to male patients. The FI ratio (55 ± 15% vs. 60 ± 15%, p = 0.02) and FF ratio (9 ± 8% vs. 12 ± 10%, p = 0.02) were lower, but the DC ratio (12 ± 13% vs. 9 ± 11%, p = 0.01) and NC ratio (23 ± 11% vs. 19 ± 12%, p = 0.02) were higher in female patients than in male patients. The differences in coronary risk factors between females and males may be associated with coronary plaque characteristics. Differences in culprit coronary plaque composition were observed between female and male patients with stable angina.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Nara Prefectural Nara Hospital, 1-30-1 Hiramatsu, Nara, Nara, 631-0846, Japan, kennara@m3.kcn.ne.jp.
authors.forename: Fumitaka
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ueshima
authors.forename: Takatomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kagoshima
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito