The OhioHealth Women’s Heart & Vascular Program CME event on Saturday 1/30 was a fabulous kick off to February ~ Heart Month ~ which includes #WearRedGoRed for Women Friday February 5 and the Go Red for Women Luncheon here in Columbus on Thursday February 25 to benefit the American Heart Association.

We appreciate the American Heart Association support for the conference (see registration table photo below) with Red Dress pins, wristbands, and great Know & Go cards for participants.

The morning event at the McConnell Heart Health Center brought together health care professionals interested in learning about Women’s Heart & Vascular Health; from Heart & Vascular physicians with keynote presentation from Dr. Ana Barac discussing CardioOncology.

Dr. Mary Alton gave a great opening lecture on Women & Heart Disease, including Yentl syndrome.  She covered cardiac testing for women ~ or how can we choose the best way to learn about a woman’s heart function.

Dr. Barac presented current research in how to protect women’s hearts during chemotherapy for cancer; as well as the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) and other risk factors that weaken a woman’s heart function when going through cancer treatments.

The OhioHealth Women’s Heart & Vascular Pregnancy Predicts Risk Program ~ why was this started & what’s a risk from pregnancy? was introduced by Dr. Laurie Amburgey, Maternal Fetal Medicine, and discussed by Dr. Ashley Chambers, Internal Medicine. Both providers discussed the fact that a woman’s heart risk with pregnancy issues like pre-eclampsia doesn’t stop with delivery of the baby. Dr. Chambers told us about the OhioHealth program to be sure women have appropriate risk factor management in the years after having a pregnancy that predicts Heart Risk.

Dr. Joddi Neff with Riverside Radiology and Interventional Associates gave a great “Ask the Expert” session on Vascular Medicine – (a big topic that could have its own conference) and focused on risk of blood clots with hormone therapy, and management of venous diseases for women.

Women’s Heart & Vascular CME Faculty 
Clockwise from bottom left: Dr. Alton, Dr. Nicholson, Dr. Amin, Dr. Rock-Willoughby, Dr. Chambers, Dr. Amburgey, Dr. Neff-Massullo, Dr. Barac, Dr. Albers (Course Director)

Dr. David Nicholson and Dr. Jayme Rock-Willoughby with OhioHealth presented the session “From ER to CR” highlighting the “Nose to Navel” goal for early EKG for women with symptoms occurring in that anatomical range, and the Women’s Cardiac Rehab programming launched at the McConnell Heart Health Center in 2015 ~ an effort to get more women through Cardiac Rehab.

Dr. Anish Amin, a Heart Rhythm Specialist closed with an excellent talk on Women’s risk for stroke with atrial fibrillation (a heart arrhythmia).

More to come with take home points for patients from the morning sessions.

Lexie Sines, with OhioHealth CME