Vanderbilt Health recently launched a new Women's Heart Center, led by a nationally recognized cardiologist, Kathryn J. Lindley, MD. The Women’s Heart Center delivers specialized heart care for women of all ages—from young adults to the elderly.
To raise awareness about the unique heart issues facing women, members of the Women’s Heart Center faculty are hosting an educational event at the Nashville Zoo on Saturday, May 13, the day before Mother's Day. The two-hour event will feature talks from four VUMC cardiologists on a variety of topics about the unique aspects of heart health important to women.
The event is open to the first 60 people who register using this link. Attendees get a free zoo pass for the day, lunch and parking.
For more information about the event, contact Shannon Lambert at shannon.lambert@vumc.org or (615) 936-7359.
More About the Women's Heart Center
In addition to cardiology, the center collaborates with other specialties, including obstetrics and gynecology, maternal fetal medicine, psychiatry and nutrition.
“Our goals are to provide patient-centered care that can facilitate and improve evidence-based, sex-specific care for women in the region. To do so, we’re excited to partner with patients’ existing primary care physicians and other subspecialty providers to develop a team-based approach to optimize an individualized care plan for each patient,” said Dr. Lindley, who joined the center as director in 2022.
The center’s work begins with treating female patients in adolescence, when a growing number present with congenital heart defects or early acquired cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes. The care continues through their reproductive years, providing safe and effective methods of contraception, prenatal care, and pregnancy and postpartum care. Pregnancy is a critical time to identify women who are at a particularly higher risk for developing cardiovascular complications, she said.
“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of maternal death,” Lindley said. “It’s a time that we really need to provide women with particular, multidisciplinary-focused care, both for preventing postpartum complications but also to help identify women who are at increased risk over the long term for premature cardiovascular disease to help set them on a healthy path forward.”
