Stormont-Vail HealthCare Partners with Yale University Researchers to Launch Landmark Study of Young Women with Heart Disease

(Topeka, Kan., Dec. 3, 2008) – Stormont-Vail HealthCare and Lambert Wu, M.D., FACP, FACC, cardiologist at the Cotton-O’Neil Heart Center, will collaborate with Yale University School of Medicine investigators on the launch of the $9.7 million VIRGO study (Variation In Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes in Young AMI Patients), a 4-year effort awarded by the National Institutes of Health to study young women with heart disease. Despite perceptions that young women are protected from heart disease, it is one of the leading causes of death in women 55 years and younger. Building on more than a decade of work studying sex differences in heart disease, this landmark multi-site study will enroll 2,000 young women and 1,000 men for comparison. As the largest, most comprehensive investigation of young women with heart attacks, VIRGO will identify key determinants of recovery and discover knowledge that will assist in improving care in this population.

“Most women in this age group are relatively protected from heart disease; however, prior research indicates that young women have a much greater risk of dying after a heart attack than similarly aged men. This study will be the first to focus on this high risk -- and highly unstudied -- group,” said Dr. Judith Lichtman, the co-principal investigator.

"This is a landmark study being conducted at key medical centers nationwide to determine why heart attacks occur, particularly in young women. We are very pleased to be selected to participate in this landmark study as it demonstrates Stormont-Vail HealthCare’s ability and commitment to contribute to the latest research in understanding heart attacks. In the end, our patients will benefit from this important information,” said local co-investigator Dr. Lambert Wu.

Although women under age 55 with heart attacks represent a small proportion of all patients with heart disease, they represent a large group of patients, accounting for approximately 40,000 hospitalizations each year. Approximately 8,000 deaths are annually attributed to ischemic heart disease in young women 55 years of age or younger, ranking it among the major causes of death in this group. “Despite the increasing focus on women with heart disease in recent years, we know little about heart disease in this population,” said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, the principal investigator. “Since young women with heart disease are relatively rare at any one hospital, we have assembled an unprecedented network of almost 100 sites nationwide to identify and enroll women for this ground-breaking study.”

VIRGO bridges disciplines from basic biology to clinical sciences to psychology and health services research. “The question is, what accounts for premature heart disease in women and why do they experience worse outcomes than similarly aged men with heart attacks. There have been no large, prospective studies of this population, even though the death toll is comparable to that from breast cancer,” said Dr. Lichtman.

In collaboration with this multi-disciplinary research team from Yale University School of Medicine, and leading investigators from other institutions, Dr. Wu working with the Cotton-O’Neil Clinical Research Center will address questions ranging from genetics to clinical care and outcomes, including:

How are outcomes of women different from those of men?

What are the genetic, demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors that contribute to premature heart disease in women?

How do delays in clinical presentation and treatment affect the risk and outcomes of women?

Do women get the same quality of care as men?

Yale University School of Medicine is collaborating with the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women, a nationwide movement to raise awareness of heart disease as the No. 1 killer of women and empower women to reduce their risk by learning about prevention. The investigators will be working closely with the American Heart Association to disseminate study findings through various channels, including online at the American Heart Association’s website, goredforwomen.org, and will also distribute information through the American College of Cardiology. For more information about Go Red For Women, please call 1-888-MY-HEART (1-888-694-3278) or visit goredforwomen.org. Public sharing of this information will drive efforts to improve the prevention, care and outcomes for young women and men who experience a heart attack.

For more information about VIRGO, visit the study web site at www.virgostudy.org.

To learn more about Cotton-O’Neil Clinical Research Center, visit stormontvail.org.