Sex differences in Cardiac Diseases, Chapter 23 - CardioRheumatology

Women have an increased risk of certain chronic autoimmune inflammatory disorders (CIDs). All aspects of the heart’s structure and function may be affected by the autoimmune disease. Many of the cardiovascular (CV) complications may be clinically silent and subclinical. However, there is still a clear burden of increased CV morbidity and mortality in these patients. Despite the growing recognition of the increased CV risk in the inflammatory autoimmune patient population, at present there are no specific guidelines that address the risk. A heightened awareness of the CV risk is important as one evaluates and treats the CID patient. Although the CID patient may not report CV symptomatology, their ongoing inflammatory condition may be resulting in damage to the entire cardiac system.