Scientists examined data from the Clopidogrel in Unstable Angina Evaluation (CURE) trial, a 28-nation study of 7,726 men and 4,836 women with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). ACS involves a type of chest pain called angina and certain kinds of heart attacks.

The researchers found that female ACS patients, compared to the males, were:

• 15 percent less likely to undergo tests such as angiography.

• About one-third less likely to undergo follow-up procedures such as angioplasty and bypass surgery.

• About one-sixth more likely to report chest pain during the nine months after discharge. There was no gender variation in cardiovascular death rates, however.

The investigators noted that the differences found in the study could be due to various factors, such as different symptoms of chest pain in women, physician bias or higher rates of refusal by women.

The study was published in November in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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