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Women are a consistent minority in the field of cardiology, with concerns regarding balancing career and parenting responsibilities often cited as a contributing factor to this under-representation. To investigate the impact that a career in cardiology may have on the family planning decisions of female cardiologists, the Women in Cardiology section of the American College of Cardiology conducted a voluntary anonymous survey. The following perspective highlights lessons learned from the survey, and potential solutions to the issues surrounding maternity leave, radiation exposure during pregnancy, and breastfeeding accommodations raised by these data. Given that most female cardiologists are pregnant at some point during their careers, particularly during the vulnerable periods of training and early career, improving the experience of pregnancy and early parenthood for all cardiologists may secure the best possible candidates to the field of cardiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To review the literature systematically to determine whether initiation of beta blockade within 45 days prior to noncardiac surgery reduces 30-day cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates. Methods PubMed (up to April 2013), Embase (up to April 2013), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (up to March 2013), and conference abstracts (January 2011 to April 2013) were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies comparing perioperative beta blockade with inactive control during noncardiac surgery. Pooled relative risks (RRs) were calculated under the random-effects model. We conducted subgroup analyses to assess how the DECREASE-I (Dutch Echocardiographic Cardiac Risk Evaluation Applying Stress Echocardiography), DECREASE-IV, and POISE-1 (Perioperative Ischemic Evaluation) trials influenced our conclusions. Results We identified 17 studies, of which 16 were RCTs (12,043 participants) and 1 was a cohort study (348 participants). Aside from the DECREASE trials, all other RCTs initiated beta blockade within 1 day or less prior to surgery. Among RCTs, beta blockade decreased nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) (RR: 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.58 to 0.82) but increased nonfatal stroke (RR: 1.76; 95% CI:1.07 to 2.91), hypotension (RR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.34 to 1.60), and bradycardia (RR: 2.61; 95% CI: 2.18 to 3.12). These findings were qualitatively unchanged after the DECREASE and POISE-1 trials were excluded. Effects on mortality rate differed significantly between the DECREASE trials and other trials. Beta blockers were associated with a trend toward reduced all-cause mortality rate in the DECREASE trials (RR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.15 to 1.22) but with increased all-cause mortality rate in other trials (RR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.64). Beta blockers reduced cardiovascular mortality rate in the DECREASE trials (RR:0.17; 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.64) but were associated with trends toward increased cardiovascular mortality rate in other trials (RR: 1.25; 95% CI: 0.92 to 1.71). These differences were qualitatively unchanged after the POISE-1 trial was excluded. Conclusions Perioperative beta blockade started within 1 day or less before noncardiac surgery prevents nonfatal MI but increases risks of stroke, death, hypotension, and bradycardia. Without the controversial DECREASE studies, there are insufficient data on beta blockade started 2 or more days prior to surgery. Multicenter RCTs are needed to address this knowledge gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Various national campaigns launched in recent years have focused on young women with acute myocardial infarctions (AMIs). Contemporary longitudinal data about sex differences in clinical characteristics, hospitalization rates, length of stay (LOS), and mortality have not been examined. Objectives: This study sought to determine sex differences in clinical characteristics, hospitalization rates, LOS, and in-hospital mortality by age group and race among young patients with AMIs using a large national dataset of  U.S. hospital discharges. Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample, clinical characteristics, AMI hospitalization rates, LOS, and in-hospital mortality were compared for patients with AMI across ages 30 to 54 years, dividing them into 5-year subgroups from 2001 to 2010, using survey data analysis techniques. Results: A total of 230,684 hospitalizations were identified with principal discharge diagnoses of AMI in 30- to 54-year-old patients from Nationwide Inpatient Sample data, representing an estimated 1,129,949 hospitalizations in the United States from 2001 to 2010. No statistically significant declines in AMI hospitalization rates were observed in the age groups >55 years or stratified by sex. Prevalence of comorbidities was higher in women and increased among both sexes through the study period. Women had longer LOS and higher in-hospital mortality than men across all age groups. However, observed in-hospital mortality declined significantly for women from 2001 to 2010 (from 3.3% to 2.3%, relative change 30.5%; p for trend < 0.0001) but not for men (from 2% to 1.8%, relative change 8.6%; p for trend = 0.60). Conclusions: AMI hospitalization rates for young people have not declined over the past decade. Young women with AMIs have more comorbidity, longer LOS, and higher in-hospital mortality than young men, although their mortality rates are decreasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]