Cardiovascular organizations adopt new universal heart attack definition

Four leading global cardiovascular health organizations have established a new universal definition for heart attacks, marking a major overhaul in how the condition is diagnosed and treated. Announced at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress, the new guidance aims to address historical disparities in care, particularly for women.

Previously, certain types of heart attacks—such as coronary artery spasm, coronary embolism, and spontaneous coronary artery dissection—were often classified as less urgent. These conditions occur at rates up to 10 times higher in women than in men and are frequently triggered by childbirth, exercise, or emotional stress rather than traditional clot-based blockages. Because existing protocols prioritized clot-based obstructions, women often faced diagnostic delays and treatments that failed to address their specific underlying causes.

The updated guidelines streamline classification to prioritize these types of attacks and adjust the diagnostic threshold for troponin, a protein released during heart tissue damage. By lowering the troponin threshold for women, medical professionals can more accurately identify cases that were previously missed or deprioritized under male-centric benchmarks.