Women's hearts beat differently - New consultation hours in Basel

Around one in three women die every year from cardiovascular disease, the most common cause of death worldwide. In Switzerland, women have poorer chances of survival after a cardiac arrest, as recent studies show. Gender differences in medicine, particularly in cardiovascular diseases, have been known for decades. However, there has been no significant improvement in gender inequality in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in recent years.

Overlooked, underestimated, underserved - this should change in the future

"Women often suffer from less typical symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea or non-specific chest pain, which can delay diagnosis. In addition, women are often affected by special forms of heart disease, such as dysfunction of the smallest coronary vessels or myocardial infarction without narrowing of the vessels (MINOCA)," says Prof. Felix Mahfoud, Chief Physician at the Department of Cardiology. Heart failure with preserved pumping function (HFpEF) is also more common in women. There are also risk factors specific to women, such as hormonal fluctuations, pregnancy complications and autoimmune diseases. Current scientific studies and guidelines from cardiology societies emphasize the need for a gender-sensitive approach, as women are often underrepresented in clinical studies.

Precision medicine for women: New approaches in cardiology
The University Hospital Basel is responding to the urgent need for individual diagnostics and personalized therapy. The new women's heart consultation offers individual and gender-specific diagnostics and therapy concepts and the doctors address the special needs of women. This includes targeted examinations and individual risk management.

University medicine and research for women

The Women's Heart Clinic works on an interdisciplinary basis and, together with the Cardiovascular Research Institute Basel (CRIB), is intensively involved in research into gender-specific differences in heart disease. New studies should help to further improve pathophysiology, diagnostics and therapy and adapt them specifically to the needs of women. "Our aim is to gain an even better understanding of gender-specific differences in cardiology and to translate these into clinical practice," say Prof. Christine Meyer-Zürn and Dr. Emel (Eliza) Kaplan, heads of the Women's Heart Clinic.