'It almost cost me my life': Women wait twice as long as men for heart failure diagnosis

Kerry woman, Pauline O’Shea, described her heart now as “the heart of an older person”, leaving the mother of three unable to return to work

Pauline O'Shea from Kerry who suffered a delayed diagnosis with a heart condition. Photo: Irish Heart Foundation

Women in Ireland wait nearly twice as long as men to receive heart failure diagnosis, and for Pauline O’Shea the wait almost cost her life.

The first survey of heart failure patients has found “a significant gender gap”, with women, on average, waiting five weeks for a formal diagnosis of heart failure compared to a three-week wait for men.

Ms O’Shea (48), originally from Kerry and now living in Co. Clare, came up against this problem in 2012. Ten years later, her heart and mental health are still paying the price, she said.

“I was told by a cardiologist that my gender, my age, and the fact I had just had a baby were almost blinding against the presentation of my symptoms,” she said.

She went to her local emergency department five days after giving birth. She had pains in her chest, shortness of breath, and other symptoms that she now knows are typical of Scad (spontaneous coronary artery dissection) when the artery tears.

“I was told I had a virus, and I was sent home,” she said. She returned to the hospital a week later, having continued to be ill at home.

“It almost cost me my life,” she said. “Even when I went back that time, I was still misdiagnosed. People kept saying there is something wrong but we don’t know what is wrong. 

It took going into cardiac arrest in front of them and then it was all blue lights to Dublin.

She praised staff in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital and the paramedic for saving her life. “I had to have a defibrillator implanted in case my heart stopped. For me the delay in diagnosis was like a domino, because it was not diagnosed properly it opened the door to further problems,” she said.

She described her heart now as “the heart of an older person”, leaving the mother of three unable to return to work.

An advocate giving talks and writing on her blog thehealingoflife.com’, she said nurses and consultants frequently say they have a different understanding of the risks having heard her situation.

About 90,000 people a year suffer heart failure in Ireland with another 160,000 living with impending heart failure. 

“State of the Heart: Examining the current state of heart failure diagnosis and care in Ireland”, by the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) and Roche Diagnostics, found 19% of patients received an incorrect diagnosis first. 

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They found 58% said the delay affected their ability to work leading to financial losses while 70% said their mental health was affected. The report also calls for GPs to have greater access to tests measuring natriuretic peptide levels to boost early intervention.

Dr Angie Brown, cardiologist and Medical Director at the IHF, said: “It highlights the need to increase the awareness of the signs and symptoms of heart failure, particularly in women, and demonstrates that we must do more to facilitate a prompt diagnosis.”

She called for a funded Cardiovascular Policy and Strategy to address these issues.

Finbarr Kenny, Director of Ireland & European Agencies Countries at Roche, said: “As a community, we urgently need to work together to rectify the inequalities and ensure that all patients are receiving timely diagnosis and treatment, no matter what age or gender.”