Mayo study: nontraditional causes in women’s heart attacks

Mayo Clinic researchers report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that more than half of heart attacks in women under 65 are caused by nontraditional factors such as embolisms and spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), which are frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed. An analysis of 1,474 heart attacks over more than 15 years found atherosclerosis caused 75% of men’s events but only 47% of women’s, with SCAD nearly six times more common in women; stressor-related heart attacks (e.g., anemia, infection) carried higher five‑year mortality.