OHSU’s Center for Preventive Cardiology offers expert care to lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes. We are the largest heart team in Oregon focused only on prevention. 

You’ll find: 

•  Complete, team-based care from world-class specialists
• Advanced tests and non-invasive imaging to thoroughly evaluate your risk factors
• The latest medications for chronic diseases, including lipid disorders, diabetes and obesity
• Oregon’s only cholesterol dialysis (apheresis) for severe cholesterol disorders
• Free nutritional counseling with a registered dietitian
• Genetic testing and counseling for inherited conditions
• Access to clinical trials and research studies 

What is preventive cardiology?

Preventive cardiology is a subspecialty that brings together the disciplines of cardiology, endocrinology and metabolism, and obesity medicine to help you understand and manage all your risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Preventive cardiology can help you: 

• Incorporate the basics of a healthy lifestyle into your daily life
• Identify both traditional and newer risk factors for heart and vascular disease
• Understand the causes of abnormal lipid levels, including complex and rare lipid disorders
• Improve your cholesterol and triglyceride levels 
• Optimally manage your diabetes 
• Lower your blood pressure
• Learn about therapies to help lose weight safely and keep it off, including with medications
• Stop smoking

Why is preventive cardiology important?

Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in the United States. Many serious heart conditions such as heart attacks and strokes are preventable with the right care. If you have already had a heart attack or stroke, treatments can also keep you from having another one. These approaches not only help you live longer but also improve your quality of life.

Our excellence

We are part of the OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Institute, Oregon’s largest and most experienced heart team. We offer the highest level of heart care, including the region’s longest-running heart failure and transplant program. We are also home to the state’s most advanced cardiovascular intensive care unit and most experienced heart surgery team. 

Expertise: Our providers are national leaders in preventive cardiology. They serve prominent roles in the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, The Obesity Society, and the National Lipid Association. Your care team understands how high-risk conditions, such as fatty liver disease, obesity, lipid disorders and diabetes, often require treatment that includes nutritional advice, medications and surgical counseling.

Research: As Oregon’s only academic health center, OHSU gives you access to clinical trials for promising new treatments. You also can join a registry that tracks patients long term, helping researchers learn more about the best ways to prevent heart disease.  
 

Team-based care

We work together to give you the most effective care, tailored to you.

Your care team may include specialists in: 

• Nutrition (dietitians) 
• Heart and blood vessels (cardiologists) 
• Diabetes, metabolism and hormones (endocrinologists)
• Cholesterol and triglyceride (lipidologists) 
• Obesity medicine
• Medications and advanced therapeutics (clinical pharmacists)
• High blood pressure 
• Genetics
• Imaging of the heart and blood vessels
• Cardiac rehabilitation

First steps

We start by understanding your health journey. We examine all your potential risks and find the best way to manage them.

At your first visit, you will talk with your care team about your family and medical history and have a physical exam. You might also meet with a registered dietitian to talk about your eating habits and nutritional needs.

We may also: 

• Go over any previous test results
• Order additional lab testing as needed
• Schedule diagnostic tests and imaging
• Recommend care you can start right away, when appropriate
• Connect you with other experts and resources at OHSU

Assessing your risk

We use advanced imaging, genetic testing, stress testing and specialized blood and urine tests to thoroughly evaluate your risk.

Blood and urine tests: We look for underlying lipid disorders that cause serious cholesterol problems. These precise tests can help us understand how to target your treatment.

Coronary calcium scan: This noninvasive scan using Computed Tomography (CT) shows us if there is calcium in your heart’s artery walls. Detecting calcium tells us there is plaque buildup (atherosclerosis) in the artery before you have symptoms.

Computed tomography angiogram (CTA): These specialized CT scans use contrast dye to create detailed images of your blood vessels. We look for any narrowing or blockages, calcified (hard) and non-calcified (soft) plaque.

Exercise stress tests: We test how well the blood flows to your heart as you exercise on a treadmill or stationary bike. As your heart works harder during the exercise session, sensors measure your heart rhythm, breathing and blood pressure. We also have a test option for those who are unable to exercise.

Ultrasound: Ultrasound is a noninvasive test that uses sound waves to create images. We use it to measure the thickness of two main (carotid) arteries in your neck. We also look for plaque buildup (carotid artery stenosis) that can cause strokes.

Genetic tests: We offer advanced genetic tests and counseling for chronic conditions such as obesity, high cholesterol and chylomicronemia (very high triglyceride levels).

The results of these tests can help us find the best treatment options for you. They can also help you get insurance coverage and qualify for clinical trials.

Lowering your risk

We focus on treating your underlying conditions at their roots. We look at your lifestyle, inherited conditions and other factors to find the best way to lower your overall risk. Small changes now can prevent big problems later.

Nutrition counseling: Free, one-on-one visits with a registered dietitian can help you make food choices that improve your heart health. Our dietitians are experts in cholesterol issues, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. My Heart-Healthy Plate is a helpful guide.

Weight management: Carrying extra weight, especially around your middle, can increase your risk for heart attacks and strokes, as well as diabetes, dyslipidemia, fatty liver and hypertension. We treat obesity as a chronic disease. If you are struggling to manage your weight, it is not your fault. You can lose weight and lower your risk factors with new, highly effective obesity medications. We can also talk to you about bariatric surgical options.

Support to stop smoking: Stopping smoking is one of the most important steps you can take to lower your risk for heart attacks and strokes. It’s also one of the hardest. We connect you to programs that can help you quit.

Medications: We offer the latest and most effective medicines to help you manage your:

• Cholesterol and triglyceride levels 
• Blood pressure
• Body weight 
• Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome

We also may recommend you stop taking some medications, if there are better treatment options.

Cholesterol dialysis (apheresis): OHSU is the only hospital in Oregon that offers this highly specialized treatment for severely high cholesterol, advanced heart disease, or both. This procedure passes your blood through a machine that removes LDL cholesterol and then returns your blood to your body.

Cardiac rehabilitation: If you have had a heart attack or are living with heart failure, we connect you with OHSU’s cardiac rehab program to help you build your cardiovascular fitness. This doctor-supervised exercise program can help you safely reduce your risk of heart problems.

Learn more

• Meet our team
• Clinical trials at Knight Cardiovascular Institute
• Patient stories
• My Heart Healthy Plate
• Heart Protection Kitchen class
• Ask the heart and vascular experts