Presenting symptoms and diagnosis of coronary heart disease in women.

Coronary artery disease generally presents later in women than men and more frequently with atypical symptoms. From the Framingham data, angina is the commonest initial clinical presenting symptom of coronary artery disease in women, compared with myocardial infarction for men. Obtaining a careful history is essential in evaluating a woman for possible coronary artery disease. Research is beginning to elucidate some barriers to the diagnosis of coronary artery disease in women.