In a new study, researchers found women are less likely than men to receive a mechanical heart pump that is becoming the norm for people with advanced heart failure.
The research was conducted by a team from the Institute of Internal Medicine in Pittsburg.
Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen.
It affects 6.5 million Americans, a number projected to rise to 9 million by 2030.
About 10% of people with heart failure have an advanced form.
Many receive a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, a surgically implanted, battery-operated device that helps the heart circulate blood.
For some people with advanced heart failure, an LVAD buys time before a heart transplant. Others get the device for longer-term therapy.
Previous research has shown certain groups are less likely to receive an LVAD.
For example, People who live in low-income ZIP codes, are black or Hispanic or are uninsured or covered by Medicaid are less likely to get the devices.
In the study, the team took a deeper look at long-standing differences in how women are treated for heart failure.
They looked at data from 29,934 hospitalizations from 2004 to 2016 in which people received LVADs.
Results showed that while the devices were used more, women continued to represent a smaller proportion of LVAD recipients.
In 2004, women made up 25.8% of those who got LVADs, but that shrunk to 21.9% in 2016.
The team also found a big decrease in death rates in hospitals for both men and women who received the newer-generation devices.
The findings suggest that the new devices are very effective at keeping people alive, and their complications rates are low.
Both men and women should learn more about LVADs and talk to their doctors about them as early as possible.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Aditya Joshi.
The study is published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure.
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