Microvascular angina used to be considered a fairly harmless condition that occurred mostly in women, but research has shown that it may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death due to cardiovascular reasons.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, looked at 686 patients on four continents, and during a two-year follow-up found events such as stroke, heart attack, and hospitalization for chest pain (angina) occurred in nearly 8 percent of patients each year.

Men and women were almost equally affected, and the prognosis was no different according to sex or ethnicity. Analysis showed that high blood pressure, previous history of coronary artery disease, and stable angina were all important and independent predictors of these major cardiovascular events.

Women had significantly worse quality of life than men, although they had a similar long-term prognosis; the researchers say this could be due to the effect of female hormones on pain perception.