Older women experience disproportionate rates of HFpEF, coronary microvascular dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, and valvular heart disease, often facing delayed diagnosis due to atypical symptoms.
This review highlights the unique cardiovascular disease patterns in older women and emphasizes the need for age- and sex-specific care models to address disparities in diagnosis and management.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review examines the unique cardiovascular disease patterns in older women, focusing on sex and age-specific pathophysiology, diagnostic challenges, and disparities in management. We aim to clarify how aging and hormonal transitions influence disease presentation and outcomes among women, and to identify gaps in cardiovascular care. RECENT FINDINGS: Emerging data demonstrate that older women are disproportionately affected by HFpEF, coronary microvascular dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, and valvular heart disease. These conditions are influenced by vascular stiffness, myocardial remodeling, and systemic inflammation and often present with atypical symptoms leading to diagnosis delays. Contemporary studies highlight persistent gaps in timely diagnosis, referral for advanced therapies, and representation in clinical trials. Increasing attention is being directed toward frailty, multimorbidity, and patient-centered care models in this population. Recognizing age and sex-specific characteristics, increasing representation of older women in clinical trials, improving equitable access to diagnostic and therapeutic resources, and aligning treatment decisions with patient priorities are critical to narrowing existing gaps and improving long-term outcomes for older women with cardiovascular disease.
Lybarova et al. (Sat,) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease. Older women experience disproportionate rates of HFpEF, coronary microvascular dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, and valvular heart disease, often facing delayed diagnosis due to atypical symptoms.