Appendix - CNIC

SCIENTIFIC REPORT ´09
IMJOVEN
Multi-departamental Clinical Projects
Although heart disease causes many deaths in young women, it has been virtually ignored by the
medical profession because it represents only a small fraction of the total incidence of atherosclerotic
heart disease. However, young women who suffer an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have a mortality
risk markedly higher than that of young men, and the limited data on young women from minority
groups in the USA suggest that this population may have the highest risk of any young subgroup. There
have been no large, prospective studies of ischemic heart disease in young women, even though the
death toll is comparable to that due to breast cancer. Findings from the small number of studies that
have been published suggest that the biology, epidemiology, care, and outcomes of heart disease in
women differ from those of men. The IMJOVEN study is the Spanish counterpart of the VIRGO study,
an NIH-sponsored investigation led by Harlan Krumholz of Yale University into the excess risk in young
women with AMI. The aim of VIRGO and IMJOVEN is to identify key demographic, clinical, metabolic,
psychosocial, healthcare delivery, and biological determinants of prognosis. Our aim with IMJOVEN is
to study 300 women with a previous history of AMI, using the same protocol as the VIRGO study.
IMJOVEN is coordinated by the Department of Translational Research at the CNIC, the Spanish Society
of Cardiology and the RECAVA and Heracles networks. Funding comes from a FIS grant, the NIH and
the CNIC.
AWHS
The Aragon Workers Health Study is being carried out in collaboration with the Instituto Aragonés de
Ciencias de la Salud (IACS) and the General Motors Spain factory in Zaragoza. The study examines the
development of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors by monitoring factory workers at their annual
medical checkups. Enrollment has been completed, and we have recruited 5589 workers to the study,
a participation of greater than 95%. Even though the population in the study is relatively young, 35%
of study participants were hypertensive at baseline, 5% had diabetes, 22.5% were obese, and 53.7%
were overweight. The project is now in its clinical phase, consisting of measurements of subclinical
atherosclerosis in study participants and follow-up over at least five years. The study is financed by
the Departamento de Salud y Consumo of the Aragonese regional government, General Motors Spain,
and the CNIC.
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