The prevalence of ischemic heart diseases (IHD) has increased remarkably during the past 10 years in Korea. Because only few reports on risk factors of IHD in Korean women exist, the aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics (including risk factors) of IHD in Korean women.

Fifty-six female patients and 122 (out of 655) of male patients with significant coronary artery stenosis were included in this study. There were 12 cases of angina pectoris and 35 cases of myocardial infarction in the 56 female patients. There were 54 cases of angina pectoris and 68 cases of myocardial infarction in the 122 male patients. Age and sexdistributions, risk factors of atherosclerosis, and coronary angiographic findings were compared between the female and male patients.

The female patients were older than the male patients (63±8 years vs. 58±4 years, p<0.01). The proportion of patients older than 60 was higher in women than men (70% vs. 48%, p<0.01). The number of risk factors was 1.17 in women and 1.27 in men, and the proportion of patients with multiple risk factors (≥ 2) was greater in men than in women (43% vs. 25%, p<0.05). Hypertension was more prevalent (66% vs. 11%, p<0.001) and smoking was less (65% vs. 11%, p<0.001) in women than men. After age adjustment, hypertension was more frequent in women, and smoking was more in men (p=0.001). On coronary angiograms there were no difference in the morphology of coronary artery stenosis, the distribution of culprit vessels, and the number of vessels involved between women and men, In terms of therapeutic modalities, there were no differences between women and men in our study.

In Koean women with IHD, hypertension is more common and smoking is less common. However, coronary artery lesion morphology and distribution are comparable between women and men.