Video: Study: Cardiac catheterization may not benefit all women with heart disease

Larger screen

Heart disease is the number-one killer of women each year in the United States. Cardiac catheterization is a routine procedure that allows doctors to find potential blockages in coronary arteries in order to help prevent new heart attacks and even death.

A recent study finds that high risk women who do have a heart attack benefit from this procedure just as much as men. But for some women, the procedure may not always be the best option.

Virginia Devlin has a family history of heart attacks, so when she felt tightness in her chest, she worried she may be having one too.

"According to the lab studies, I didn't have any real damage to my heart, but I had the types of symptoms that would indicate that I was borderline," said Devlin.

During a cardiac catheterization, doctors determined she had a partial blockage in one artery. They inserted a stent to correct the problem, but researchers have found this invasive procedure may not benefit certain women.

"High risk women appear to have as much benefit as men; however, in contrast and importantly low risk women do not appear to have a substantial benefit from a routine invasive strategy and this strategy may even potentially be harmful," said Dr. Michelle O'Donoghue, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Those women who experienced a near heart attack, also called unstable angina, had an increased risk of experiencing a heart attack or death after the procedure. Researchers say pre-existing medical conditions may be to blame.

"Women appear to have a higher incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol when they come into the emergency room that may put them at higher risk of complications after cardiac catheterization," said O'Donoghue.

Virginia is trying her best to avoid such conditions.

"I'm exercising more and I'm eating better than I was so all of those are on the plus side," said Devlin.

New guidelines from the American College of Cardiology recommend that high risk women undergo cardiac catheterization but that low-risk women should have further testing first.

The study appears this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.