A new prospective study published in American Journal of Cardiology has revealed that women may experience significantly better cardiac recovery than men after an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The STAMI (Stunning in Takotsubo versus Acute Myocardial Infarction) study, which included patients treated with timely reperfusion, provides new insight into sex-based differences in post-heart attack recovery.

The study enrolled 146 patients (105 men and 41 women) with anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and followed them through a rigorous imaging and blood sampling protocol over a 30-day period. Key assessments included echocardiographic evaluations of cardiac function at multiple time points—4 hours, 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, and 30 days post-admission.

Researchers focused on akinesia recovery as the primary outcome. At 30 days, women showed significantly greater recovery than men, with an 8.3% improvement in akinesia (95% credible interval 0.8%, 15.5%). Statistically, the posterior probabilities that women had better outcomes in akinesia recovery and wall motion score index (WMSI) were 96% and 99%, respectively.

Secondary indicators of heart function, including global longitudinal strain (GLS) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), also showed a trend toward improvement in women, although these differences were less pronounced.

Importantly, baseline characteristics were similar between men and women.
The findings indicate that, with timely treatment, women may have a more favorable recovery trajectory in terms of heart muscle function.