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Gender Differences in Arrhythmias: Focused on Atrial Fibrillation

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Abstract

There are significant differences in clinical presentation and treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) between women and men. The primary goal of AF management is to restore sinus rhythm and to prevent various complications, including stroke and heart failure. In many areas of AF, such as prevalence, clinical manifestations, morbidity, risk factors, pathophysiology, treatment strategies, and complications, gender-specific variability is observed and needs to be further addressed by large-scale population researches or randomized clinical trials, which help to promote the customization of AF treatment programs, hence to maximize the success rate of AF therapy in both sexes. This review highlights our current understanding of these gender differences in AF and how these differences affect treatment decisions on AF.

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Abbreviations

AF:

Atrial fibrillation

BMI:

Body mass index

HF:

Heart failure

PV:

Pulmonary vein

LSP-AF:

Long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation

PAF:

Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

AAD:

Antiarrhythmic drugs

OAC:

Oral anticoagulant

LAA:

Left atrial appendage

LAVI:

Left atrial volume index

QoL:

Quality of life

MI:

Myocardial infarction

SVT:

Supraventricular tachycardia

AV:

Atrioventricular

LQTS:

Long QT syndrome

BrS:

Brugada syndrome

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 81470372).

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  1. Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, and Center Laboratory, The Fifth People′s Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, No. 801 Heqing Road, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Xiao-Ting Tian, Ying-Jia Xu & Yi-Qing Yang

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  1. Xiao-Ting Tian
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Tian, XT., Xu, YJ. & Yang, YQ. Gender Differences in Arrhythmias: Focused on Atrial Fibrillation. J. of Cardiovasc. Trans. Res. 13, 85–96 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12265-019-09918-w

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