Allegheny Health Network opens heart clinic for South Asian patients

Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network’s Cardiovascular Institute opened the state’s first clinic designed to prevent heart disease in South Asian patients.

The South Asian Heart Clinic is for individuals of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali, Sri Lankan, Bhutanese and Maldivian descent, according to a Feb. 3 system news release. It will provide advanced biomarker testing, genetic testing, coronary calcium scoring, metabolic assessment, culturally specific nutrition and lifestyle guidance, and collaborative endocrinology support. The center is led by cardiologists Anita Radhikrishnan, MD; Mahathi Indaram, MD; and Indu Poornima, MD.

“South Asians have a heart disease risk that is up to four times higher than the general population and manifests several decades earlier,”  Dr. Indaram said in the release. “Moreover, coronary artery disease can go unnoticed for several years, with the initial presentation being a fatal event such as a cardiac arrest. This is why early, thoughtful intervention with a culturally informed care team is critically important.”
South Asians account for roughly 25% of the world’s population, but make up 60% of the world’s cardiovascular disease burden, according to the National Lipid Association.