HEART RESERVE · Clinical education
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Pregnancy Is Heart History
Clinical learner guide
Use this guide to revisit the teaching and plan the next clinical conversation. Complete the questions and evaluation in the activity. No patient information is collected by this guide.
Learning objectives
- Record pregnancy complications and connect them to a current cardiovascular assessment and accountable follow-up.
- Interpret lipid results and reproductive risk markers using current dyslipidemia guidance, including appropriate Lp(a) and selective apoB testing.
- Compare lipid-lowering options using the patient’s risk, treatment response, reproductive plans, safety considerations and access.
- Distinguish cardiovascular outcomes evidence from biomarker changes and investigational findings, then communicate a practical plan.
Nina: postpartum transition
A postpartum handoff that needs an owner
Nina is 34 and eight weeks postpartum. Her pregnancy was complicated by preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. She delivered at 34 weeks and is spending much of her time at the NICU. An early blood-pressure check occurred, but the obstetric and primary care records do not show who owns her long-term follow-up. She is breastfeeding, has no acute symptoms, and has not completed postpartum glucose testing.
Ask before adding another task
Nina says, “I thought the blood pressure problem ended when I delivered.” Ask what she was told, what testing has already happened, and what makes the next appointment difficult. Obtain the discharge summary, recorded blood pressures, pregnancy diagnoses, medicines and available laboratory results. Record the year and gestational age of the affected pregnancy and distinguish a confirmed diagnosis from the patient’s recollection. [1,2]
A history of an adverse pregnancy outcome is a reason to assess present risk and maintain preventive care. It does not establish that Nina has coronary disease. Blood pressure, glycemia, lipid assessment, kidney status when indicated, tobacco exposure, physical activity, food access and sleep each contribute information. The 2026 ACC postpartum pathway emphasizes coordinated follow-up for patients with or at risk for cardiovascular complications. [2,3]
Separate the urgent problem from the prevention visit
Start with symptoms and the current blood pressure, not the list of incomplete screening tasks. Nina has no acute symptoms in the opening vignette. The later telephone call is a new clinical situation and requires a new urgency decision. Do not carry the reassurance from the first visit into the second encounter. [3,12]
A useful history asks what happened, when it happened, how severe it was, and what remains unresolved. “Preeclampsia; delivery at 34 weeks; discharge summary requested” gives another clinician more information than “pregnancy problem.” Record patient-reported information as such while obtaining records. Avoid making the patient repeat her story to every service.
Time the right test
ADA recommends a fasting 75-g OGTT at 4–12 weeks after gestational diabetes, interpreted with nonpregnancy criteria. In this early period, an HbA1c does not replace the recommended OGTT. Even a normal result does not end follow-up: ongoing screening for prediabetes or type 2 diabetes is recommended every 1–3 years. [5]
Put the plan into the record
The practice can arrange testing next week. Nina prefers a phone call after 3 PM. The primary care PA accepts responsibility for reviewing the result and contacting her. In this worked example, the team checks for a result within two working days of the planned test and calls if the test was missed. These operational deadlines are examples, not guideline intervals.
Teach the earlier postpartum window
ACOG recommends blood-pressure evaluation no later than 7–10 days postpartum after a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. The 2026 ACC pathway specifies evaluation within 72 hours after discharge for patients with severe hypertension during the delivery hospitalization. Current severe blood pressure or concerning symptoms require urgent assessment, not a wait for that appointment. Nina’s eight-week visit continues the earlier surveillance. [3,4]
A note another clinician can use
“Preeclampsia and gestational diabetes in 2026, delivery at 34 weeks. Current symptoms reviewed. Early BP follow-up verified. Postpartum OGTT arranged for [date]. [Clinician/team] will review the result and contact the patient by [date]; if missed, [staff member/team] will call using the agreed contact method. Cardiovascular and metabolic follow-up booked for [date].”
Add the actual blood pressure, medication reconciliation, renal findings when relevant and the patient’s next pregnancy plans. Confirm receipt of a referral rather than treating a sent referral as a completed visit.
Make a missed step visible
An order, a completed test and an acted-on result are different events. In this illustrative workflow, the team records each separately. If the test is missed, ask what made it difficult and agree on a feasible next step. If the result is abnormal, the responsible clinician interprets it and arranges appropriate care; a reminder alone does not complete that task.
Use teach-back to check your explanation: “I want to be sure I explained this clearly. What is the next step, and who will contact you?” Ask how the patient wants to be reached. Coordinate appointments around infant care when possible. These workflow choices are practice examples, not prescribed guideline intervals.
Patient explanation
“What happened in pregnancy is useful information for your health now. It gives us a reason to keep checking blood pressure and blood sugar and to review other heart risks. We can make a plan that works around the NICU. I will tell you who is checking each result.”
Take into practice
- Start with current symptoms and urgency.
- Complete indicated postpartum testing.
- Name who reviews the result and who contacts the patient.
Maria: midlife prevention
A pregnancy history missing from midlife prevention
Maria is 46 and attends a preventive visit. She has no known ASCVD or diabetes and no current symptoms. LDL-C is 158 mg/dL, HDL-C 49 mg/dL and triglycerides 145 mg/dL. She reports treated hypertension and a father who had an MI at 49. She does not smoke. When asked directly, she describes severe preeclampsia with a delivery at 31 weeks. Her chart does not contain this history. She is not pregnant or breastfeeding and has no current pregnancy plans.
What is missing before the risk calculation?
Maria belongs in a primary-prevention assessment because no ASCVD event is reported. The abbreviated vignette does not supply a complete current blood pressure, total cholesterol, body mass index or kidney assessment, and her medication record needs confirmation. Obtain the inputs required by the current validated calculator rather than substituting estimates. The PREVENT result is one part of a discussion that also considers reproductive risk markers and family history. [6,7]
Keep the tasks distinct: record the pregnancy history, measure current risks, interpret the calculated estimate, then discuss treatment. Do not add an arbitrary percentage for preeclampsia or substitute the Lp(a) concentration for a risk score. A low short-term estimate is also not permission to erase an important history from the record. [6,7]
Use additional tests for a decision
The 2026 dyslipidemia guideline recommends Lp(a) measurement at least once in adulthood and selective apoB assessment. Lp(a) can reveal inherited risk not evident from a standard lipid panel. ApoB may help when cholesterol concentrations and atherogenic particle burden are discordant, including selected patients with metabolic disease or high triglycerides. A test is useful when its result changes the risk discussion or management. [6,7]
Maria’s Lp(a) returns at 165 nmol/L. Record the laboratory units exactly. Avoid a fixed conversion between nmol/L and mg/dL. Explain that the result supports closer attention to modifiable risks and family history; it is not a measurement of an arterial blockage. Do not promise that diet will normalize an inherited Lp(a) level. [6]
Build a feasible prevention plan
Discuss blood-pressure control, a heart-healthy dietary pattern, activity appropriate to function, smoking avoidance and medication options when indicated. Ask what Maria can sustain. A registered dietitian can help translate dietary advice into meals, budget and cultural preferences. Document the next measurement and review date rather than ending with “lifestyle counseling provided.”
Reproductive plans can change the prescription
Consider a separate 34-year-old patient with hyperlipidemia who takes a statin for primary prevention and now wants to become pregnant. Her case requires a different discussion from Maria’s. Confirm the medication, dose, indication, current pregnancy status, plans, contraceptive method and breastfeeding status. Avoid assuming that age alone establishes whether pregnancy is possible.
Questions that prevent an incomplete transition
Why was this medicine prescribed, and how high is the patient’s current risk?
What does the current product information say for conception, pregnancy and lactation?
Who will agree on the timing, provide an alternative when needed and monitor the patient?
How will the plan be revisited after delivery or when breastfeeding ends?
The 2026 guideline generally defers most lipid-lowering therapies during conception, pregnancy and lactation. For established ASCVD or severe familial hypercholesterolemia, coordinate preventive cardiology or lipid expertise with obstetric care. Do not apply one washout rule to every drug, substitute an investigational therapy, or leave a high-risk patient without follow-up. [6,8]
“Before you start trying to conceive, let’s review the medication with the clinician who prescribed it. We will agree on when to change it and how to look after your cholesterol and other risks during that time.”
Work through the treatment transition
In the separate pregnancy-planning case, medication reconciliation starts with the actual drug and indication. The vignette does not name a product or dose, so do not invent either in the referral. Ask the prescriber to agree on a plan before conception, document who will explain it, and specify how it will be revisited. The pregnancy plan belongs in the prescribing record as well as the obstetric record.
The FDA removed the blanket pregnancy contraindication for statins while continuing to advise discontinuation in most pregnant patients. A small group with very high cardiovascular risk may require individual assessment. This change does not establish safety for every lipid drug or support routine statin use in pregnancy. When ongoing statin treatment is required after delivery, FDA advises against breastfeeding. Discuss feeding and cardiovascular treatment together. [8]
Return to Maria
Record Maria’s preferences, agreed prevention plan and the clinician who will reassess her response. Pregnancy history can improve the conversation without becoming a reason to overtest or to promise an unproven therapy.
Take into practice
- Record the pregnancy history without labeling it an ASCVD event.
- Complete current risk information before choosing treatment.
- Include reproductive plans in medication decisions.
Elena: secondary prevention
Residual risk after a myocardial infarction
Elena is 58, has type 2 diabetes, and had an MI two years ago. She is postmenopausal. LDL-C is 92 mg/dL while prescribed a high-intensity statin. She also reports preeclampsia many years earlier. The current decision is secondary prevention for established ASCVD. Her pregnancy history remains part of her record, but it does not replace the evidence-based treatment pathway for her MI and diabetes.
The guideline restores LDL-C and non-HDL-C goals, including LDL-C below 55 mg/dL for very-high-risk ASCVD. Confirm that Elena meets the full criteria before assigning this category; a prior MI and diabetes alone do not establish multiple high-risk conditions. Apply the appropriate secondary-prevention pathway. Select additional treatment using the reduction needed, outcome evidence, safety, patient preference and access. [6]
| Option | Reason to discuss it | Question before selecting |
|---|---|---|
| Maximally tolerated statin | Foundational therapy in appropriate ASCVD care | Actual use, symptoms, interactions and response? |
| Ezetimibe | An oral nonstatin option for additional LDL lowering | Enough reduction for the patient’s goal? |
| PCSK9 monoclonal antibody | Potent LDL lowering with cardiovascular outcomes evidence | Access, administration and treatment burden? |
| Bempedoic acid | Oral option with outcomes evidence in studied statin-intolerant patients | Indication, adverse effects, interactions and current label? |
| Inclisiran | LDL lowering through a different dosing approach | Do not equate lipid efficacy with completed event-outcome evidence; check current data. |
This comparison supports a treatment discussion; it does not establish a preferred product for every patient. Review current prescribing information before use. [6,9,10]
Turn the LDL-C result into a decision
“Prescribed a high-intensity statin” is not the same as taking and tolerating it. Ask Elena to describe the medicine, dose and schedule she actually uses. Explore symptoms without dismissing them, and distinguish a clinical adverse effect from an affordability or refill problem. Review other causes of an inadequate lipid response and agree on a feasible regimen. [6]
If actual use is confirmed and LDL-C remains above the appropriate goal, discuss additional LDL-lowering therapy using the size of reduction needed, the evidence for her clinical setting and the practical burden of treatment. An oral agent and an injected agent may present different adherence and access issues. A lower laboratory value is useful only when the plan can be implemented and reviewed. [6]
Benefits and harms belong in the same discussion
CLEAR Outcomes reported more gout and cholelithiasis with bempedoic acid than placebo. The current FDA label warns about hyperuricemia and tendon injury and includes drug-interaction precautions. Ask about relevant history and review the exact current label before choosing treatment. These considerations accompany the cardiovascular result rather than disappearing because a trial met its endpoint. [9,14]
Read the endpoint before recommending a medicine
What the trials establish
CLEAR Outcomes randomized 13,970 statin-intolerant patients with or at high cardiovascular risk. The primary composite occurred in 11.7% with bempedoic acid and 13.3% with placebo; HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.79–0.96. These findings support an option for the studied population. They do not demonstrate safety in pregnancy or a benefit specifically after preeclampsia. [9]
VESALIUS-CV studied evolocumab in patients with atherosclerosis or diabetes who had no previous MI or stroke and found fewer first cardiovascular events than placebo. “No previous MI or stroke” does not mean a healthy, low-risk population. Elena already has a prior MI, so this trial should not be presented as a direct match to her history. [10]
In September 2026, Novartis reported that pelacarsen lowered Lp(a) in Lp(a)HORIZON but did not meet the primary cardiovascular endpoint. This is a sponsor topline announcement; detailed methods and results require appraisal when available. Pelacarsen remains investigational in this report. Lowering a biomarker does not by itself establish clinical benefit, and one trial does not establish a class-wide conclusion. [11]
Read absolute effects as well as the headline
In CLEAR Outcomes, subtracting 11.7% from 13.3% gives an absolute difference of 1.6 percentage points in the primary composite over the trial follow-up. The hazard ratio of 0.87 is a relative time-to-event comparison; it is not a 13-percentage-point absolute reduction. Neither number predicts Elena’s individual benefit. The studied population, background care and follow-up must remain attached to the estimate. [9]
A composite endpoint combines several outcomes. Check which components changed, how harms were collected and whether follow-up was sufficient for the question. Do not infer a proven benefit for women with prior preeclampsia from an overall result unless an applicable analysis supports that claim. This activity uses trials to practice appraisal, not to create a pregnancy-specific treatment indication.
Elena’s next visit
Agree on the treatment decision and review interval with Elena, document access arrangements, and name the clinician responsible for reassessing adherence, tolerance and laboratory response. Ask her to explain the plan in her own words. A prescription without access or follow-up is an incomplete plan.
Take into practice
- Distinguish prescribed treatment from actual use.
- Apply evidence from the appropriate patient population.
- Agree on an accessible treatment and follow-up plan.
References
1. American Heart Association. Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Cardiovascular Disease Risk. Scientific statement. 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000961
2. Lewey J, et al. Opportunities in the Postpartum Period to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk After Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes. Circulation. 2024;149:e330–e346.
https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001212
3. American College of Cardiology. Optimization of Postpartum Care for Patients With and at Risk for Premature and Long-Term Cardiovascular Disease. Expert Consensus Decision Pathway. 2026.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2025.11.001
4. ACOG. Optimizing Postpartum Care. Committee Opinion 736.
5. American Diabetes Association. Management of Diabetes in Pregnancy. Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026.
6. Blumenthal RS, et al. 2026 Multisociety Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia.
https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001423
7. American Heart Association. 2026 Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia. Official guideline summary.
https://professional.heart.org/en/science-news/2026-guideline-on-the-management-of-dyslipidemia
8. FDA. Statins Drug Safety Communication. July 20, 2021.
9. Nissen SE, et al. Bempedoic Acid and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Statin-Intolerant Patients. N Engl J Med. 2023;388:1353–1364.
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2215024
10. Bohula EA, et al. Evolocumab in Patients without a Previous Myocardial Infarction or Stroke. N Engl J Med. 2026.
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2514428
11. Novartis. Lp(a)HORIZON phase III topline results for pelacarsen. September 4, 2026. Sponsor announcement; detailed trial report requires review when available.
12. CDC. HEAR HER urgent maternal warning signs.
https://www.cdc.gov/hearher/maternal-warning-signs/index.html
13. ACCME. Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education.
https://accme.org/rules/standards/
14. FDA. NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) prescribing information. Revised January 2026. Review the current label before prescribing.
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2026/211616s026lbl.pdf
Completion
Three baseline questions, three cases with two required decisions each, six posttest questions and a short evaluation. Passing score: 65% (at least four of six correct). Review feedback and retry when needed. Video, audio and transcripts are equivalent optional learning supports.