Philips launches latest in advanced technology to help detect heart disease in women

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in women in all countries of Europe2. One in five European women die from coronary heart disease each year2 and by 2020 coronary heart disease among women globally will have increased by 120% from the levels of 19903. Women are more likely than men to have a second heart attack within six years of the first and are 50% more likely than men to die in the first year after a heart attack4.

Tests for diagnosing coronary artery disease have been traditionally developed and tested in men. For example women make up only 38% of the participants in cardiovascular studies funded by the National Institutes of Health in the US5. But women with coronary artery disease often complain of different symptoms from men1 and show clinical differences as well, with damage more often occurring in smaller blood vessels with fewer arterial blockages, a condition called microvascular disease6. As a result, more women than men with heart conditions can show normal vessels in spite of their worsening symptoms7.

Negative or unclear tests in women can often mean heart disease goes missed and untreated.

Philips has been developing diagnostic tools which take gender differences into account since the 1970s8. The company's latest advance is the PageWriter TC50 cardiograph which allows healthcare professionals to easily and efficiently take and record ECGs - tests of heart activity - assisting the clinician in making a timely diagnosis. The PageWriter TC50's sophisticated analysis programme, the DXL Algorithm, uses different criteria for men and women to help clinicians interpret cardiac symptoms, including identifying acute global ischemia, the restrictions of blood supply to large areas of the heart.

"Philips understands that heart disease can be different in women than in men and also harder to detect. We work closely with leading healthcare organizations, patients and clinicians to continually increase our understanding of heart disease in women so that we can develop solutions, such as the PageWriter TC50 and the DXL Algorithm, to improve the early detection of heart disease in women."

commented Joris van den Hurk, vice president of cardiology programs for Philips Healthcare.

Philips is the first company to provide healthcare professionals with comprehensive diagnostic tools which respond to recommendations by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the Heart Rhythm Society for myocardial infarction and acute ischemia, including gender and age-specific criteria.