Annual Heart Health In Women Symposium

Cardiologist Dr. Sharonne Hayes of the Mayo Clinic offered the keynote address at the 4th Annual Heart Health in Women Conference, held in February at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Chaired by Drs. Phoebe Ashley and Jordana Kron, this year’s half-day event featured Pauley and other prominent heart doctors from across the U.S.

Hayes’s lecture addressed spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), an emergency condition caused by the tearing of a blood vessel in the heart. The condition, which can cause a heart attack, most commonly affects women in their 40s and 50s, or even younger—often affecting otherwise healthy women. Contributing factors for SCAD may include fibromuscular dysplasia, recent childbirth, extreme physical exertion or emotional stress, high blood pressure and drug use.

The day’s speakers also included Dr. Phillip Duncan (“Heart Disease in Minority Women”), Kron (“Cardiac Sarcoidosis: Making a Challenging Diagnosis”), Dr. Jennifer Jordan (“Cardiac MRI in Women with Breast Cancer”), Dr. Daniel Tang (“The Tin Woman: LVADs and Heart Transplantation in Women”), Dr. James Levenson (“Emotions and the Heart”), Ashley (“Hormones and the Heart”), and Dr. Antonio Abbate (“Go Red for Women in Research”), who addressed the underrepresentation of women in clinical trials.

About 100 health care providers attend the annual conference each year, which is sponsored by Pauley and VCU Health Continuing Medical Education.

DRS. JORDANA KRON, PHOEBE ASHLEY, SHARONNE HAYES AND JENNIFER JORDAN