SCAD at Mayo Clinic (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection)

09/20/2025

Mayo Clinic's Dr. Mohamad Alkhouli helps us understand the powerful and bidirectional connections between heart and brain health including how SCAD may sometimes be influenced.

Mayo Clinic cardiologist Dr. Mohamad Alkhouli researches the powerful mind-heart connection, exploring how emotions impact heart health and vice versa. Learn about conditions like broken heart syndrome and SCAD, and discover how lifestyle choices benefit both brain and heart.

09/17/2025

This study reexamined the cause of all heart attacks in people under age 65 that occurred in a single county over time (2003-2018).

What did they find about SCAD?
-SCAD was nearly 6 times more common in women than men and was the most common originally missed or misclassified diagnosis.

-55% of SCAD cases were initially misclassified as atherthrombosis (plaque) or some other cause. Notably, the accuracy of SCAD diagnosis improved after 2012, when several groups, including Mayo Clinic, published research about SCAD.

This important study tells us a lot about heart attacks in younger women, and supports the hypothesis that SCAD is not occurring more commonly in the past decade - but instead, that we have been historically missing the diagnosis.

Mayo Clinic study reveals that heart attacks in women under 65 are often caused by factors other than clogged arteries, challenging existing assumptions. The research highlights the need for improved diagnosis and treatment of nontraditional heart attack causes, such as SCAD, to improve patient outc...

08/06/2025

Mayo Clinic SCAD researchers, Drs. Tweet and Hayes featured in a story about SCAD in the magazine of the American College of Cardiology

Quality Improvement For Institutions | Corewell Health: Driving Safety, Quality and Value in the ASC Setting: A Case Study

06/09/2025

Dr. Sharonne Hayes (Mayo Clinic), Dr. Martha Gulati (Cedars-Sinai), Dr. Monica Christmas (University of Chicago) and Dr. Carolyn Mazure (Yale) weigh in and call everyone to action to reverse the recent withdrawal of support and funding of research focused on women's health or s*x and gender medicine.

This threat is particularly relevant to SCAD, a condition that disproportionately affects women, but has other potential harms, including the health of men and the scientific workforce of the future.

There's so much at stake—for everyone.

02/06/2025

Torea Rodriguez shares her experience of surviving a SCAD heart attack and provides an excellent recount of her SCAD story, including a visit to Mayo Clinic. Her descriptions of SCAD and associated conditions along with her lived experiences during and after her SCAD event are authentic, understandable and relatable.

Here, in Ms. Rodriguez own words:

https://www.torearodriguez.com/wowpodcast/e073
In this episode of Wildly Optimized Wellness, I open up about my journey with SCAD—spontaneous coronary artery dissection—a life-altering, yet little-known heart condition that primarily affects women. Six months after my SCAD heart attack, I’m sharing everything I’ve learned about this condition, from its surprising connection to hormone fluctuations to the gaps in research and diagnosis. I also dive into the emotional and mental health impact of surviving a SCAD event, the challenges of navigating medical care, and what we can do to raise awareness.

If you’ve never heard of SCAD before, you’re not alone—but this is something every woman should know about.

In this episode of the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast, Toréa takes us along a paddle of a picturesque mountain lake near the Jefferson Wilderness area in Oregon. As she paddles through the clear waters, she reflects on the concepts of living in cause versus effect, demonstrating how shifting our

09/10/2024

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TbqcC0ULsDk

Here are the 2024 research findings from the Mayo Clinic SCAD (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection) Research Program presented by Drs. Sharonne Hayes. Th...

09/07/2024

2024 West Coast SCADaddle in San Diego. Over 50 SCAD survivors marched and participated in the 5 K for research. Last night survivors and families heard about the most up to date research and information about SCAD from Dr. Hayes from Mayo Clinic. We are grateful for all the support we’ve received from SCAD Research Inc and the many survivors and families who support and encourage our work.

06/05/2024

More on our efforts to advance women's heart health!

Just One More | Advocating For Women’s Health on Capitol Hill May 31, 2024 Cardiology Magazine Print Font Size A A A Keywords: Cardiology Magazine, ACC Publications, Patient Advocacy, Consumer Advocacy, ACC Advocacy, Delivery of Health Care, Trustees, Women's Health < Back to Listings You must be ...

04/17/2024

Awareness raising for SCAD. Thanks to patients Toniya Farmer, Nakeia Jackson, and Jennifer Maxwell for sharing their stories.

SCAD accounts for 1 in 3 acute heart events in younger women. Many doctors are not aware it exists.

04/11/2024

https://mirrorindy.org/indianapolis-scad-women-misdiagnosed-heart-attack-community-north/
Women must be taken seriously when they have symptoms. SCAD can be challenging to diagnose, even by "experts". So when the tests don't "fit" the pattern of symptoms, sometimes we have to dig a bit deeper identify SCAD. Read this story by Mary Claire Molloy.

Many doctors are unaware of SCAD or struggle to identify it, dismissing female patients and putting them at risk.