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Sex Differences in the Management of Advanced Heart Failure

  • Women’s Health (M Wood, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of review

Heart failure (HF) is prevalent among women and remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Currently, 3 million women live with HF and the prevalence is projected to continue to increase. The purpose of this review is to highlight sex differences in the use and response to evidence-based pharmacological, device, and advanced HF therapies, as well as explore emerging areas of research in sex differences in the treatment of HF.

Recent findings

Under-representation of women in clinical HF trials has limited our understanding of sex-related differences in the treatment and outcomes of HF.

Summary

Important sex differences exist in the use of evidence-based HF therapies and clinical response among women with HF. In general, women tend to obtain the same clinical benefit from evidence-based HF drug and device therapies, but the utilization rates of guideline-directed medical therapies remain poor compared to men. Future research efforts should focus on increasing the enrollment of women in HF trials to help gain helpful insight into sex-specific differences in treatment effects and subsequent clinical outcomes.

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  1. Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street GRB-800, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Daniela R. Crousillat MD & Nasrien E. Ibrahim MD

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Nasrien E. Ibrahim MD

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Correspondence to Nasrien E. Ibrahim MD.

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Nasrien E. Ibrahim is funded in part by the Dennis and Marilyn Barry Fellowship in Cardiac Research (Boston, MA).

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Daniela R. Crousillat declares no potential conflicts of interest.

Nasrien E. Ibrahim has received presentation fees from Novartis, Inc.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Women’s Health

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Crousillat, D.R., Ibrahim, N.E. Sex Differences in the Management of Advanced Heart Failure. Curr Treat Options Cardio Med 20, 88 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11936-018-0687-y

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