Screening needed for anyone exhibiting cardiac symptoms, says maternal-fetal expert
Patients, providers often miss the symptoms of pregnancy-related heart disease
IN THE NEWS: Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of pregnancy-related deaths. Yet, it’s often missed.
UCI Health cardiologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Afshan B. Hameed spoke to California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos about a lack of awareness that is contributing to the problem.
“One in 23 women who died of cardiovascular disease did not know they had symptoms, including shortness of breath, fatigue or swelling. They didn’t know when to seek medical care.
More disturbing, when a young patient came in with symptoms that would otherwise be cardiac, about 70% of healthcare providers didn’t think they were related.
The biggest gap we have is really understanding the fact that if anyone presents with cardiac symptoms, they need to be evaluated.”
Hameed is a board-certified UCI Health cardiologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist, as well as a professor of obstetrics-gynecology and cardiology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. She is a nationally recognized expert who co-authored the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' inter-conception care guidelines for women with hypertension to improve post-partum care and follow up. Her clinical interests include heart disease in pregnancy, fetal echocardiography, preeclampsia and anticoagulation in pregnancy.
Hameed serves on the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Advisory Committee (PAMR), which reviews all cases of maternal mortality to identify gaps in care for quality improvement opportunities. She also helped develop the cardiovascular and venous thromboembolism toolkits published by CMQCC. She also served on the American College of Gynecology Presidential Task Force for the publication of its 2019 Practice Bulletin on Heart Disease in Pregnancy.
To make an appointment at UCI Health Cardiology Services, call 714-456-6699.
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