Abstract 3500: Cardiovascular Risk in Women with Non-Specific Chest Pain: Women’s Health Initiative Hormone Trials

Abstract

Context: Women discharged with a diagnosis of nonspecific chest pain (NSCP) may have an increased risk of subsequent coronary heart disease (CHD) events. The influence of hormone therapy on NSCP is unknown. Methods: The WHI enrolled postmenopausal women aged 50 –79 years. After excluding women with prior cardiovascular disease, 9427 women in the estrogen alone (E-Alone) trial and 15,105 women in the estrogen plus progestin (E + P) trial were included in this analysis. NSCP, defined as having a primary hospital discharge diagnosis of NSCP by ICD-9 code, was reported in 322 E-Alone and 249 E + P women. Risks of subsequent CHD events were estimated using intent-to-treat Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR) models stratified by clinic and adjusted for age and other risk factors. Results: In the fully adjusted models of the combined trials, women with NSCP had a 2-fold greater risk of subsequent nonfatal CHD events including nonfatal myocardial infarction [2.3% vs 1.7%, HR 2.10 (1.11–3.98)], revascularization [3.5% vs 2.6%, HR 1.99 (1.20 –3.30)], and hospitalized angina [3.7% vs 2.3%, HR 2.39 (1.46 –3.92)]. Hormone therapy did not have a significant effect on either the incidence of NSCP hospitalizations [HRs (95% CIs): E-Alone 1.04 (0.81–1.32); E + P 0.78 (0.59 –1.02)] or on the risk of a subsequent CHD event over 7.1 or 5.6 years of follow-up, respectively. Conclusion: A NSCP hospitalization doubles the risk of a subsequent CHD event in postmenopausal women over the next 5 to 7 years. Further research is needed to identify appropriate diagnosis and treatment strategies for women with NSCP.