184. CardioNerds Rounds: Challenging Cases of Cardiovascular Prevention with Dr. Martha Gulati

Published: March 14, 2022, 3:06 a.m.

CardioNerds Rounds Co-Chairs, Dr. Karan Desai and Dr. Natalie Stokes and CardioNerds Academy Fellow, Dr. Najah Khan, join Dr. Martha Gulati \u2013 President-Elect of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) and prior Chief of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona \u2013 to discuss challenging cases in cardiac prevention. As an author on numerous papers regarding cardiac prevention and women\u2019s health, Dr. Gulati provides many prevention pearls to help guide patient care. Come round with us today by listening to the episodes now and joining future sessions of #CardsRounds!\n\n\n\nThis episode is supported with unrestricted funding from Zoll LifeVest. A special thank you to Mitzy Applegate and Ivan Chevere for their production skills that help make CardioNerds Rounds such an amazing success. All CardioNerds content is planned, produced, and reviewed solely by CardioNerds. Case details are altered to protect patient health information. CardioNerds Rounds is co-chaired by\xa0Dr. Karan Desai\xa0and\xa0Dr. Natalie Stokes.\xa0\n\n\n\nSpeaker disclosures: None\n\n\n\nCases discussed and Show Notes \u2022 References \u2022 Production Team\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCardioNerds Rounds PageCardioNerds Episode PageCardioNerds AcademyCardionerds Healy Honor Roll\n\n\n\n\n\nCardioNerds Journal ClubSubscribe to The Heartbeat Newsletter!Check out CardioNerds SWAG!Become a CardioNerds Patron!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShow notes - CardioNerds Rounds: Challenging Cases of Cardiovascular Prevention with Dr. Martha Gulati\n\n\n\nCase #1 Synopsis:\n\n\n\nA 55-year-old South Asian woman presents to prevention clinic for an evaluation of an elevated LDL-C. Her prior history includes hyperlipidemia, hypertension, obesity, and pre-eclampsia. She was told she had \u201chigh cholesterol\u201d a few years prior and would need medication. She started exercising regularly and cut out sweets from her diet. Before clinic, labs showed: Total Cholesterol (mg/dL) of 320, HDL 45, Triglycerides 175, and (directly measured) LCL-C 180. Her Lipoprotein(a) is 90 mg/dL (ULN being ~ 30 mg/dL). Her HbA1C is 5.2% and her 10-year ASCVD Risk (by the Pooled Cohorts Equation) is 5.4%. Her recent CAC score was 110. She prefers not to be on medication and seeks a second opinion.\n\n\n\nTakeaways from Case #1\n\n\n\nAs Dr. Gulati notes, in the 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, South Asian ethnicity is considered a \u201crisk enhancing factor.\u201d The pooled cohort equations (PCE) may underestimate risk in South Asians. Furthermore, risk varies within different South Asian populations, with the risk for cardiovascular events seemingly higher in those individuals of Bangladeshi versus Pakistani or Indian origin. There are multiple hypotheses for why this may be the case including cultural aspects, such as diet, physical activity, and tobacco use. A better understanding of these factors could inform targeted preventive measures.In the same 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease mentioned above, history of an adverse pregnancy outcome (APO) increases later ASCVD risk (e.g., preeclampsia) and is also included as a \u201crisk-enhancing factor.\u201d Studies have shown that preeclampsia is an independent risk factor for developing early onset coronary artery calcification. Recent data has shown that the risk for developing preeclampsia is not the same across race and ethnicity, with Black women more likely to develop preeclampsia. Black women also had the highest rates of peripartum cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and acute renal failure. After adjustment for socioeconomic factors and co-morbidities, preeclampsia was associated with increased risk of CVD events in all women, the risk was highest among Asian and Pacific Islander women. Listen to Episode #174. Black Maternal Health with Dr. Rachel Bond to learn more about race-based disparities in cardio-obstetric care and outcomes.Our patient thus has multiple risk-enhancing factors to help in shared decision making and personalize her decision...