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The world’s four leading cardiovascular health organizations have reached a landmark agreement on a universal definition for heart attacks, addressing longstanding disparities in diagnoses and treatment, particularly for women. This announcement was made during the European Society of Cardiology congress held in Munich.
The new guidelines introduce significant changes, particularly regarding three heart attack types that are more prevalent in women. These include coronary artery spasm, coronary embolism, and spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD). Previously classified as lower priority, these conditions disproportionately affected female patients, resulting in inadequate care and misdiagnoses. For instance, SCAD, which often occurs during or shortly after pregnancy, accounts for approximately 80 percent of its cases in women.
Additionally, the existing diagnostic blood test, which measures troponin levels—a protein released when the heart is injured—has been criticized for its single threshold that primarily identified heart attacks in men, leading to missed diagnoses in women. The new guidelines will implement sex-specific troponin thresholds, a change expected to enhance diagnostic accuracy for female patients.
This agreement marks a significant shift in the global approach to heart attack diagnosis and treatment, as it aligns the practices of the European Society of Cardiology, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the World Heart Federation. The updated definition and guidelines have been published in the European Heart Journal and represent a critical step toward equitable cardiovascular care for all patients.
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