Creating pamphlets, videos and web-based material to emphasize and remind health care providers that vascular aneurysms can occur in pregnancy, should be our first step. We aim to continuously provide our knowledge and assistance to make these infrequent clinical scenarios more recognized throughout the medical community. Sadly, as you know, these unfortunate medical conditions can result in catastrophic consequences if overlooked and untreated. Last year the Cleveland Clinic's media and marketing programs reached over 1.2 billion people around the world. With the support of Cleveland Clinic marketing expertise combined with our team�s medical knowledge, creating educational materials and distributing them is the most appropriate first tactic.
"In conjunction with our fellowship partners, FIGO and the Cleveland Clinic, we annually offer preceptorships to various doctor's and OB/GYN associations around the world with the goal of leveraging world class tertiary care expertise by creating greater awareness of maternal cardio-vascular issues, related cutting edge techniques and research, and to forge relationships among leading OB/GYN's across the world.
A recent collaboration among various medical institutions in Northeast OH yielded a Simulation Center to provide �hands on� learning experiences for medical students and residents (please see the attached article.) The Cleveland Clinic is in the process of putting together a highly-technologically advanced labor and delivery simulation model to allow students and the residents to practice their skills. We are proposing adding to this obstetrical simulation program by creating a model that that involves cardiovascular collapse during pregnancy. This program would be available for all residents and attending physicians to proceed with a simulation of an obstetrical disaster caused by a ruptured aneurysm. Obstetrical simulation is becoming very common in the United States and this will certainly become a formal part of Ob/Gyn training in the near future.
The aforementioned methods would help build awareness of the seriousness of cardiovascular health in pregnancy, as well as educate physicians on high-risk pregnancy management tactics. With time and additional resources, we could develop more seminars and methods to provide continuous medical education for health care providers around the world. Ultimately we foresee continued collaborations between ourselves, the Cleveland Clinic, various OB/GYN organizations, and universities around the world to further our knowledge and understanding of cardiovascular disease in pregnancy.