About The Study: From this large, multisite registry, results reveal that women with pregnancy-associated spontaneous coronary artery dissection (P-SCAD) had greater median ages at gestation, greater history of assisted reproductive technology use, and greater instances of multigravida and preeclampsia than women with non–pregnancy-associated SCAD (NP-SCAD) and the general reproductive-aged U.S. population. With high percentages of vascular imaging among participants, women with P-SCAD had less fibromuscular dysplasia but similar rates of extracoronary abnormalities including dissection and aneurysms as women with NP-SCAD. In this contemporary cohort, women with P-SCAD continue to represent a higher-risk phenotype with predominantly conservative management; however, they had less left ventricular ejection fraction recovery.

Using the American Heart Association’s recently developed PREVENT score to estimate a patient’s 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers found that women with the highest risk of cardiovascular disease were most likely to experience osteoporatic bone fractures. The findings could indicate that the PREVENT score may be valuable in identifying patients who could benefit from a bone density screening. 

A new UW-led study, published in mBio, describes how a recently identified species of marine bacteria targets diatoms based on growth phase and nutrient availability.