Mental Stress Reactivity in Women With CMD

Description

Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction (CMD) occurs when there are problems in small blood vessels/arteries in the heart and symptoms of persistent chest pain that impact women. There are an estimated 3 million women in the US with CMD and about 100,000 new cases annually. This research will investigate whether the stress response physiology and autonomic function in response to mental stress are different in women with CMD compared to other groups. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls normally involuntary activities, such as heart rate, respiration (breathing), body temperature, blood pressure, and urinary function. This study will also examine how chronic and daily life mental stress affects the heart, blood vessels. Participants from this study will be recruited mainly from Emory Healthcare-associated hospitals, the Emory Heart Disease Center for Prevention, and Emory Healthcare outpatient cardiology clinics. Participants will have physical exams, blood tests, stress tests, exercise tests, surveys, questionnaires, and images taken of their hearts and blood vessels. They will be asked to take home devices to monitor their autonomic function, sleep and to track their mood, stress level, and symptoms for one week. Data and specimens will be saved for future research.

Conditions

Post-menopause

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction (CMD) occurs when there are problems in small blood vessels/arteries in the heart and symptoms of persistent chest pain that impact women. There are an estimated 3 million women in the US with CMD and about 100,000 new cases annually. This research will investigate whether the stress response physiology and autonomic function in response to mental stress are different in women with CMD compared to other groups. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls normally involuntary activities, such as heart rate, respiration (breathing), body temperature, blood pressure, and urinary function. This study will also examine how chronic and daily life mental stress affects the heart, blood vessels. Participants from this study will be recruited mainly from Emory Healthcare-associated hospitals, the Emory Heart Disease Center for Prevention, and Emory Healthcare outpatient cardiology clinics. Participants will have physical exams, blood tests, stress tests, exercise tests, surveys, questionnaires, and images taken of their hearts and blood vessels. They will be asked to take home devices to monitor their autonomic function, sleep and to track their mood, stress level, and symptoms for one week. Data and specimens will be saved for future research.

Mental Stress Reactivity in Women With Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction

Mental Stress Reactivity in Women With CMD

Condition
Post-menopause
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Atlanta

Emory Hospital Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30308

Atlanta

Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30308

Atlanta

Emory Clinic, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322

Atlanta

Emory Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Symptomatic postmenopausal women with chest pain
  • * age≥50 years old
  • * willing to undergo cardiac MIBG scan
  • * willing to undergo mental stress testing
  • * competent to give informed consent
  • * Significant epicardial stenosis (defined by coronary stenosis ≥ 70% in any epicardial coronary artery or hemodynamically significant stenosis determined by fractional flow reserve)
  • * Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction ≤ 50%)
  • * Heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction
  • * Significant anemia or blood dyscrasia
  • * Severe uncontrolled hypertension \>180/100
  • * Unable to lie flat for mental stress testing
  • * Pre-menopausal
  • * Pregnant
  • * Pericarditis/myocarditis
  • * History of percutaneous coronary intervention
  • * Coronary artery bypass grafting
  • * Acute myocardial infarction/acute coronary syndrome/unstable angina within 1 month
  • * Significant valvular disease, including aortic or mitral stenosis
  • * Sinus node dysfunction/pacemaker, 2nd or 3rd-degree atrioventricular block
  • * Severe lung, renal, liver, or psychiatric illness
  • * Current neoplasm
  • * History of substance abuse
  • * Acute illness such as infection in the previous 4 weeks
  • * Life-expectancy less than 2 years
  • * Unable to safely withdraw medications for mental stress testing
  • * Significant psychiatric illness that precludes safe participation in the study
  • * Conditions that preclude accurate or safe testing and patient refusal
  • * Unable to consent

Ages Eligible for Study

45 Years to

Sexes Eligible for Study

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

Emory University,

Puja K Mehta, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Emory University

Study Record Dates

2026-12-31