Heart Health Month: Reducing the Risks for Pregnant Women with Heart Disease

February is American Heart Month, an opportunity to raise awareness about the health impacts of heart disease and to spotlight the innovative ways that Mass General researchers are working to tackle these challenges.

Each year, about 700 women in the US die from pregnancy-related problems, and more than 50,000 women have life-threatening cardiovascular complications, such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and cardiomyopathy (disorders affecting the heart muscle), according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

Nandita Scott, MD, and the team at the Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program at Massachusetts General Hospital are working to raise awareness of the risk for heart complications during pregnancy and identify new strategies for prevention and treatment.

What Key Heart-Related Research Question Are You Investigating Right Now?

The most important issue in women’s heart health today is our rising maternal mortality, for which cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause.

We just started enrolling in the HOPE study, which is a prospective registry for pregnant women with cardiovascular disease. Currently this is a two-center study, with plans to enroll nationally. As maternal mortality in the US is the highest of any developed nation, it is critically important to get US-specific data to guide best management in this at-risk population. Mass General will also be the core echocardiogram (ECHO) lab for this registry.

In addition to the HOPE study, Michael Honingberg, MD, MPP, is working to evaluate microvascular function in women with severe spectrum preeclampsia, and Amy Sarma, MD, is evaluating protocols for best management of hypertension post partum and studying the effects of a virtual rehab program to improve cardiovascular health in women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Lastly our team, led by Malissa Wood, MD, has developed a large referral base for patients with coronary artery dissection—a life-threatening condition when a tear forms in in a blood vessel in the heart—and we a leading recruiting site for the national iSCAD (International Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection) registry for which Dr. Wood is the principal investigator. This unique cardiovascular condition is also under studied and this largest of its kind registry will hope to inform on best practice moving forward.

What is Unique About Your Approach?

The HOPE study will be the first of its kind in the US and—unlike another large pregnancy and heart disease registry—is a collaboration between cardiology and maternal fetal medicine. The independent evaluation of echo data is also unique but critical in providing high quality data. The iSCAD registry is also the largest US registry of its kind. This large registry data is particularly important in the study of less common cardiac conditions.

What Do You Love About Studying the Heart?

Cardiovascular physiology just makes sense! The ability to have a question, answer it and then positively impact patient care is satisfying and motivating.

About the Mass General Research Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital is home to the largest hospital-based research program in the United States. Our researchers work side-by-side with physicians to develop innovative new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease.
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