Penn Heart and Vascular

Women's Heart Health Program

Combating Cardiovascular Disease in Women

Penn's Women's Heart Program was designed specifically to meet the challenges of accurately diagnosing and treating heart disease in women.

While heart disease threatens the lives of both men and women, gender differences make it challenging to diagnose and treat the disease in women. Women may experience the classic symptoms of sharp chest pain and shortness of breath, but they often present with less obvious indicators including:

  • Generalized pressure in the chest
  • Discomfort in the back, shoulders, arms, stomach, jaw, neck or throat
  • Indigestion
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Lightheadedness
  • Palpitations
  • Unexplained fatigue

Woman-Centered Care, Conveniently Located

The Women's Heart Program specialists at Penn are thoroughly versed in:

  • How women experience cardiovascular disease.
  • Women's unique physiology and life stages.
  • The newest diagnostic and treatment techniques to improve women's outcomes.

Specialists in women's heart disease are located at:

Services that Span Every Lifestage and Every Need

Penn's Women's Heart Program helps women lead healthier lives by offering:

  • Comprehensive risk assessment, including screening for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and other unusual risk factors such as a high C-reactive protein.
  • Counseling on atypical symptoms that women may experience.
  • Pre-pregnancy evaluation and counseling as well as pregnancy and birthing care plans for women with existing heart disease to protect both mother and baby.
  • Specialized on-site tests that deliver improved sensitivity, minimize the possibility of false-positive results, and take into consideration women's unique risk factors.
  • Customized and aggressive lifestyle/diet/exercise modification plans.
  • Therapies based on the latest evidence-based, gender-specific practices.
  • Easy access to other women's health specialists at Penn.
  • Close communication with every woman's primary care physician, obstetrician and gynecologist to deliver a unified and complete health care program.
  • Appointments with female providers when preferred.

Need an appointment? Request one online 24 hours/day, 7 days/week or call 800-789-PENN (7366) to speak to a referral counselor.