Women, acute ischemic heart disease, and antithrombotic therapy: challenges and opportunities.

There now exists an extensive and growing literature examining gender-based differences in the pathobiology, presentation, treatment patterns, and clinical outcomes of ischemic heart disease (IHD). IHD is a dominant mode of death for women,1 and, for 20 years, more women than men die annually from IHD.2 The first manifestation of IHD in women is frequently myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death.2 A better understanding of the spectrum of issues—from pathophysiology through implementation of evidence-based care—among women with IHD is a public health imperative.