Cardiovascular Medicine

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women. Mayo Clinic's campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota offer a unique practice, the Women's Heart Clinic, to treat and prevent heart disease while addressing the distinct concerns of women.

Video

Watch Mayo cardiologists and others discuss women's heart health.

Services offered

Your visit to the Women's Heart Clinic may include:

• A comprehensive cardiac diagnostic evaluation. Doctors trained in heart disease (cardiologists) review your medical history and risk assessment report, conduct an initial cardiac exam, and order diagnostic tests. They consult with other specialists to develop the most appropriate treatment plan for you. At Mayo Clinic, an integrated team of doctors and other health care professionals from many areas are often involved in your care.
• A risk assessment. You'll complete a Mayo-developed questionnaire prior to your appointment to pinpoint individual risk factors for heart disease and other diseases common to women. The risk assessment reports become the basis of your heart disease prevention and treatment plan.
• Discussion about managing risk of heart disease. The established risk factors for heart disease are the same for men and women, but there are differences in how strongly they affect women. The health care team in the Women's Heart Clinic understands these differences in risk factors and helps you and your primary doctors at home to optimally manage your heart disease risks.
• Evaluation and management of heart conditions. Cardiologists will review your signs and symptoms and evaluate you to diagnose heart conditions. Doctors will work with you to manage many heart conditions, especially those which tend to affect women. Conditions evaluated include spontaneous coronary artery dissection, small vessel disease (microvascular angina), stress-induced cardiomyopathy (broken heart syndrome), peripheral artery disease, heart complications from preeclampsia, atrial fibrillation, diastolic heart failure and heart disease risk associated with autoimmune diseases.
• Education. A health care professional will guide you in making healthy lifestyle changes to help prevent or slow the progression of heart disease. Depending on your unique needs, staff may recommend high blood pressure and high cholesterol management strategies, a personalized exercise prescription, a healthy-eating plan, advice about how to quit smoking, and stress management techniques.

• Hormone therapy discussion. Postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) isn't currently recommended to prevent or treat heart disease. However, many women with heart disease or heart disease risks have menopausal symptoms or concerns about the use of hormone therapy for other problems and its effect on the heart.

  Hormone therapy continues to be researched. Staff will help you make careful decisions about this therapy based on your symptoms and the latest scientific information. The Women's Heart Clinic works closely with the Menopause and Women's Sexual Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota to provide this service.

Coordinated care

In the Women's Heart Clinic, you'll have full access to Mayo Clinic's diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical services for heart disease and other conditions that may be discovered. Doctors will coordinate your care with staff in several other areas as needed, including:

• Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center at Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota
• Breast Clinic
• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Cardiovascular Health Clinic
• Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
• Integrative Medicine and Health
• Endocrinology
• Nephrology and Hypertension
• Nicotine Dependence Center
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Sports Cardiology Clinic
• Vascular Medicine
• Menopause and Women's Sexual Health Clinic
• Executive Health Program

Research

Doctors in the Women's Heart Clinic are active in research in many areas, including women's heart disease prevention, noninvasive testing to evaluate heart disease risk and optimal treatments for many common heart conditions occurring in women.

Learn more about women's heart health research in the Cardiovascular Research Center and the Women's Health Research Center.