Yaduna - Women Hearth Health Center (WHHC) welcomes all women over the age of 45, with the exception of patients known to have Coronary Heart Disease (Myocardial Infarction commonly referred to as heart attack, Stent placement, Bypass surgery/Open Heart…) and patients on dialysis who need close follow-up by their doctors/hospitals and thus do not qualify for screening. If you are unsure whether you are eligible for screening or not, do not hesitate to call our Clinical Assistant on 05 - 923229 or email us on info@yaduna.org

Regardless of a woman’s socioeconomic background and health coverage, WHHC welcomes all screening candidates upon appointment and will provide leadership and financial support in fulfillment of its mission and vision to promote women’s cardiovascular health.

For “underprivileged” women who do not benefit from any type of health coverage, the Center will provide all screening tests, examination and follow-up services free of any charges. 

As for women enrolled in NSSF, private insurance companies, ISF, COOP and other guarantors who have agreements with WHHC, they can also benefit from our services using their coverage and the Center will cover any additional fees not reimbursed by the guarantor (after the assessment of our Social Worker).

Opening Hours: 

Monday to Friday : 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Over the phone: +961 (0) 5 923 229

The Heart Health journey at WHHC starts with scheduling an appointment by calling the Center on +961 (0) 5 923 229 or through our website and Facebook page. The Clinical Assistant will answer your call during the Center’s working hours: Monday to Friday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm and Saturday: 8:00 am - 1:00 pm, and will schedule an appointment and provide you with all necessary information about your visit. On your appointment day, make sure you bring your medication list and all pertinent medical documents as per the Assistant’s instructions.

The first step is a brief meeting with the WHHC social worker for taking the necessary information about the patient’s health coverage plans and making sure the woman qualifies for our heart disease screening program. 

Nurse Visit

Our registered and trained nurse will then fill the patient’s medical history, take Anthropometric measurements (Height, Weight, Waist and Hip circumference) in addition to the Vital Signs (Body Temperature, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, Oxygen Saturation) and the Ankle-Brachial Pressure Index (ABI). The nurse will finally perform an Electrocardiogram (ECG), which is a recording of electrical signals as they travel through the heart, that can reveal evidence of a previous heart attack or one that is in progress, measure and diagnose abnormal rhythms of the heart and reveal presence of any damage to the conductive tissue of the heart.

Cardiologist Clinic

The patient will then visit the cardiologist clinic, who will perform the patient’s Physical Exam and assessment and will elaborate a patient-personalized plan accordingly. The plan can include one or more of the services/tests listed in the following sections, depending on the patient’s risk profile for coronary heart disease.

Depending on the patient’s history, risk profile for coronary heart disease and exam, our Cardiologist will order a series of Laboratory tests which include:

• Chemistry
• Hematology
• Molecular
• Endocrinology
• Urine
• Other tests

Most importantly the Lipid profile, Glucose level and important heart disease markers and indicators.

Can Include one or more of the following services (depending on the patient’s risk for heart disease):

Echocardiography: ultrasound of the heart that produces images to determine the heart function and valvular abnormalities.This technique provides helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart and the pumping activity of the heart muscle. An Echocardiogram also gives other estimates of heart function such as: the cardiac output, ejection fraction, and diastolic function.

Carotid Duplex: ultrasound recording to determine any abnormalities in the carotid arteries like carotid stenosis (narrowing).

Peripheral Doppler: to examine the blood flow in major arteries in the arms and legs and measure the Ankle-Brachial pressure Index (ABI).

Intima-Media Thickness (IMT): ultrasound measurement of the thickness of the tunica intima and tunica media, the two innermost layers of the arterial wall. This technique is used to detect the presence of atherosclerotic disease (plaque formation in the arteries) that can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Pulse Wave Velocity: to measure the central blood pressure for early detection of arterial stiffness which has a strong correlation with cardiovascular events.

Coronary Calcium CT-scan: uses a special X-Ray test called computed tomography (CT)  to check for the buildup of calcium in the coronary arteries, known as the Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Score.

Chest X-Ray: a projection radiograph of the chestand structures contained within the thoracic cavity including the lungs, heart, and great vessels.

Have you ever wondered what the risk for developing a heart attack is in women? Finding out risk levels will make it easier to assign necessary therapies to eventually cure a person. To do this, several methods can be used.

The most famous method to calculate heart attack risk is by using the Framingham Risk Calculator. Combining your value of good cholesterol (HDL), total cholesterol, age, blood pressure, smoking status (smoker or not), and gender, doctors are able to provide a value for risk within a 10-year period for developing or dying from a heart attack.

For example, a 55-year-old lady with hypertension, who is well treated, with a blood pressure of 130/78 mm Hg, a total cholesterol level of 240 mg/dl, a good cholesterol 40 mg/dl and who smokes, has a 11 % chance of developing or dying from a heart attack within the next 10 years. 

The value of 11% means 11 out of 100 people with this level of risk will have a heart attack within the next 10 years. Doctors consider this example as someone with high risk, who needs to be on a prescription to lower her level of bad cholesterol. 

Unfortunately, the method used to calculate the 55-year-old’s risk is based on data gathered from a town called Framingham in Massachusetts, USA. The risk of someone living in the USA is very different from someone else living in Lebanon, or anywhere else. The method used also does not include family history of coronary artery disease, and does not measure risk very well in women, as determined through several studies. 

All in all, the Framingham Risk Calculator is not the ideal method for calculating risk in women in Lebanon. Local doctors have found alternatives by measuring the amount of calcium present in the coronary vessels. Calcium being found in the walls of coronary vessels is abnormal. Many studies have shown that this is proof of atherosclerosis (plaque formation in the arteries).

Women can now perform safe tests that will calculate the amount of calcium present in the coronaries, further estimating the amount of atherosclerosis. Coronary calcium tests perform very well in both men and women, with the risk of having a heart attack varying according to the value of the calcium score. 

•    Calcium score of 0 = very low risk

•    Calcium score of 1-99 = low risk

•    Calcium score of 100-399 = intermediate risk

•    Calcium score above 400 = high risk

Various methods are being used in Lebanon to calculate the risk of heart attack in women in Lebanon, some of which are more accurate than others. Coronary calcium scoring in particular is safe, reliable and provides better results in women. 

Once all test results are out, the patient will come for an evaluation visit where the cardiologist will explain all results to the patient and depending on the initial examination and test results can ask for a Dietetic/Smoking Cessation counseling at WHHC (or give an initial treatment or refer her for treatment outside the center for more advanced cases).

Dietetic Service: provides patients with diets to promote cardiovascular health in order to achieve and maintain a normal blood pressure, a balanced lipid profile and good diabetic control. This service includes: dietetic assessment, body composition test (muscle mass, body fat distribution, total body water percentage…), administration of an individualized diet, counseling and teaching, behavioral therapies, support to patients and families, regular sessions to assess compliance and prevent relapse.

This activity assists patients in quitting smoking through a series of steps. Smoking Cessation is an important prevention of heart disease (stopping smoking immediately reduces the risk of heart attack by up to half). It includes: assessment of smoking status (objective and subjective methods), Carbon Monoxide (CO) level measurement, assessment of nicotine dependence, monitoring the process of change, administration of products to help patient quit smoking, coping with emotional problems and withdrawal symptoms to prevent relapse, behavioral therapies to assist patients and promote smoking cessation in all patients, weekly group sessions and one-to-one sessions.

When the patient finishes the first Heart Health journey (after doing all necessary tests and assessment), the cardiologist will give the patient during the evaluation visit, the necessary guidelines for future screening visits depending on the case of every patient. Some patients will be scheduled to return after 3-5 years for routine screening, some annually or once every 6 months, and others will have to do more frequent follow-up visits.