10 JAMA resources for cardiologists to share with patients

Misinformation about heart health swirls on the internet, with all kinds of unfounded claims persistently undermining cardiologists’ efforts to diagnose and treat cardiovascular conditions.

The JAMA Network™ has long published its “Patient Page” feature to help physicians offer up accurate, digestible, visual guides that patients can take home and share with family. Patient Pages offer a basic definition of the condition or issue, along with symptoms, consequences, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. 

As part of a series of upcoming news articles curating these outstanding resources, the AMA is highlighting free, recently published “Patient Page” resources of highest relevance to various physician specialties. This article highlights some resources relevant to heart health. 

AMA members can explore a range of peer-reviewed research and clinical information published by the JAMA Network™, which brings JAMA together with JAMA Network Open and 11 specialty journals. Published continuously since 1883, JAMA is one of the most widely circulated, peer-reviewed, general medical journals in the world. If you are a member or interested in becoming one, learn how to access these educational materials and innovative tools. 

1. “What Is Pericarditis?”

   1. This JAMA Patient Page describes pericarditis signs and symptoms, complications, diagnosis and treatment.
   2. From the Patient Page: “Pericarditis is inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart. In North America and Western Europe, pericarditis accounts for up to 5% of emergency department visits for chest pain that is not due to a heart attack. The cause is often unknown, or it develops after a viral infection, heart attack, cardiac procedure such as catheterization or pacemaker placement, or cardiac surgery. Less often, it may occur in patients who have cancer, radiation therapy, bacterial infection, chronic kidney failure or an autoimmune disease.”

2. “What Is Atrial Fibrillation?”

   1. This JAMA Patient Page describes atrial fibrillation and its symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.
   2. From the Patient Page: “Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm that can cause stroke, heart failure, heart attack, chronic kidney disease, dementia and death. In the U.S., atrial fibrillation affects about 10 million people and is more common among men than women. Other risk factors include older age, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, high alcohol consumption, sleep apnea, an overactive thyroid gland and possibly genetic factors.”

3. “What Is a Cardiac CT Calcium Score?”

   1. This JAMA Patient Page describes the use of cardiac computed tomography scans to look for calcium in the coronary arteries as a predictor of future atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events.
   2. From the Patient Page: “Coronary artery plaque is the buildup of deposits that may include cholesterol and calcium on the inner walls of the arteries of the heart (coronary arteries). These deposits can narrow or block the coronary arteries, decreasing blood flow to the heart, which may cause a heart attack. Learn how the coronary artery calcium score is calculated and who should consider getting tested.”

4. “What Is Calcific Aortic Stenosis?”

   1. This JAMA Patient Page describes the risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and management of calcific aortic stenosis.
   2. From the Patient Page: “The most important risk factors are a bicuspid aortic valve and aortic sclerosis. Risk factors for aortic sclerosis include older age, male sex, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, chronic kidney disease and smoking. Patients with mild to moderate calcific aortic stenosis often have no symptoms, and even those with severe aortic stenosis can be symptom free for a few years. The most common early symptoms of aortic stenosis are decreased exercise tolerance and shortness of breath with physical activity.”

5. “What Is Acute Myocarditis?”

   1. This JAMA Patient Page describes acute myocarditis and its symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment.
   2. From the Patient Page: Acute myocarditis—inflammation of the heart muscle—can “cause chest pain, shortness of breath, heart pounding (palpitations) and, rarely, fainting. Many patients report flu-like symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, cough, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain, before onset of acute myocarditis.
   3. “The most common cause of acute myocarditis is a viral infection, but acute myocarditis is also associated with some autoimmune diseases, certain drugs and some vaccines, including mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. However, the risk of myocarditis is substantially higher after infection with SARS-CoV-2 than after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, and the rate of acute myocarditis after SARS-CoV-2 infection is lower among individuals who have received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Learn who acute myocarditis often affects, its typical course and how it is diagnosed and treated.”

6. “Screening for High Blood Pressure Disorders During Pregnancy”

   1. This JAMA Patient Page describes the pros and cons of screening for high blood pressure disorders during pregnancy and who should be screened.
   2. From the Patient Page: “High blood pressure during pregnancy is a leading cause of pregnancy-related illness and death in the U.S. When a pregnant individual has high blood pressure before pregnancy or during the first half of pregnancy, this is referred to as chronic or preexisting high blood pressure. Screening for high blood pressure during pregnancy is performed by measuring blood pressure with a manually inflatable cuff around the upper arm at each prenatal visit.”

7. “Chest Pain in Children”

   1. This JAMA Pediatrics Patient Page describes common causes for chest pain in children, heart-related causes of chest pain and what an evaluation with a pediatric cardiologist might look like.
   2. From the Patient Page: “Parents often worry when their child has any pain in their chest. While chest pain in adults is frequently caused by serious cardiovascular problems, chest pain in children is often innocent. For children with chest pain, pediatricians will take a full history, collect vital signs and perform a physical examination. Learn when a child may need testing or blood work.”

8. “Even Children Can Have High Blood Pressure”

   1. This JAMA Pediatrics Patient Page describes high blood pressure in children.
   2. From the Patient Page: “Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood through tubes called arteries to all parts of the body. As blood moves through these arteries, it pushes against the walls of the arteries—this is known as blood pressure. Pediatric hypertension, or high blood pressure in children, occurs when a child’s blood pushes too forcefully against the artery walls.
   3. “Children are at a higher risk if there is a family history of high blood pressure, if they are carrying too much weight, or if they do not stay active. Most children with hypertension do not have symptoms. Because hypertension is ‘silent,’ the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends checking children’s blood pressure at pediatrician visits starting at age 3 or even earlier for children who had a low birth weight, were premature infants, had a long hospital stay after birth, or were born with heart or kidney disease.”

9. “What Parents Should Understand About Lipid Screening in Children”

   1. This JAMA Pediatrics Patient Page describes what parents should consider in deciding whether to have their child screened for high lipid levels.
   2. From the Patient Page: “Pediatricians, parents and caregivers need to decide whether to screen all children for high blood lipid levels, screen only those with risk factors, or let their children wait to be screened until they are adults.
   3. “High lipid levels in adults can lead to heart disease, blockages in the blood vessels to the legs, and stroke. Taking medication to lower lipid levels reduces these risks. Therefore, screening adults for high lipid levels is common practice. But it is hard to know if screening all children for high lipid levels does more good than harm.”

10. “Caring for Your Heart During Cancer Treatment”

    1. This JAMA Oncology Patient Page describes cardio-oncology, a relatively new area in medicine that focuses on taking care of the heart while going through cancer treatments.
    2. From the Patient Page: “It is all about teamwork between cardiologists, who specialize in heart and blood vessel conditions, and oncologists, who specialize in cancer. They work together to monitor your heart health during treatments like chemotherapy or radiation.
    3. “If you already have heart issues or if any problems come up during treatment, seeing these specialists together can help discover and treat problems early. Learn about several heart-related issues associated with cancer treatment, including cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias and hypertension, as well as measures you should take before starting cancer treatment.”

In addition to the Patient Page feature, here are other ways physicians can leverage resources from the JAMA Network to help them in their clinical practice:

• Take CME courses and earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
• Fulfill maintenance of licensure (MOL) and CME requirements on JN Learning™, the home for all JAMA Network CME.
• Read concise summaries of clinical guidelines and recommendations in a format designed for today’s busy physicians.

The subscription cost of JAMA® is included with your AMA membership, plus unlimited digital access to all JAMA Network journals, including JAMA Cardiology and these other journals: JAMA Dermatology, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Neurology, JAMA Network Open, JAMA Oncology, JAMA Ophthalmology, JAMA Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, JAMA Pediatrics, JAMA Psychiatry and JAMA Surgery.

The journals include many helpful features for students, residents and fellows, including full-text PDFs, clinical challenges, archived editions, audio and video author interviews where authors give their perspectives on a study’s objectives, findings and implications.