Sex- and age-related differences of myocardial perfusion at rest assessed with multidetector computed tomography

Christina Byrne, J Tobias Kühl, Mette Zacho, Børge G Nordestgaard, Andreas Fuchs, Daria Frestad, Lars Køber, Klaus Fuglsang Kofoed

    12 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: The clinical presentation of ischemic heart disease in women differs from men, which could reflect sex-related differences of normal physiology. Cardiac CT angiography provides a noninvasive method to assess both regional and transmural myocardial perfusion in addition to coronary atherosclerosis. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate potential sex-related differences of (1) left ventricular (LV) myocardial perfusion measured as LV myocardial attenuation density/LV blood pool attenuation density (MyoAD-ratio) at rest and (2) transmural perfusion ratio (TPR) as a measure of endocardial perfusion relative to epicardial perfusion. Methods: Myocardial perfusion at rest and coronary artery atherosclerosis were evaluated with multidetector CT in 206 asymptomatic women and 203 age-matched men from the Copenhagen General Population Study. Results: LV myocardial perfusion at rest (LV MyoAD-ratio) was higher in women than in men (9% difference; P = 0.039). In a multivariable analysis, including age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors, Agatston score, and presence of coronary stenosis, global LV MyoAD-ratio remained significantly higher in women than in men (P = 0.045). No effect of cardiovascular risk factors on myocardial perfusion at rest was noted. Myocardial perfusion at rest was correlated to age in men (r = 0.15, P = 0.031) but not in women (r = -0.01, P = 0.83). TPR was slightly lower in women than in men (1.12 vs 1.14; P = 0.0019). Conclusion: LV myocardial perfusion at rest is higher in women than men independent of coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic subjects with risk factors.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
    Volume7
    Issue number2
    Pages (from-to)94-101
    Number of pages8
    ISSN1934-5925
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013

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