How one Pittsburgh organization is helping women understand the symptoms of heart disease | KD Sunday Spotlight

To Dr. Michele Hebda, it feels like yesterday that she lost her best friend.

"Back in 2022, my sister Heather had chest pain, numbness, and tingling in her arm," she recalled.

Her sister Heather was a 39-year-old healthy mother of three children. 

"(Heather said she) felt like she was going to pass out after putting her new three-month-old baby into the baby carrier," Dr. Hebda recalled.  

After the hospital said Heather was ok to go home, she went back a week later with the same symptoms. Hebda described the moments with her sister from when she "went to the Cath Lab, and that's where SCAD appeared."  

SCAD is an acronym for Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection.

"The one puff of dye caused the flap to flip up and block blood flow to the rest of her body," Dr. Hebda explained. 

Three days later, Hebda lost her beloved sister to complications related to SCAD.

The CDC said heart disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S. It has been underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed in women for years. The National Library of Medicine says one major cause of heart attacks in healthy pre-menopausal women is called SCAD.

Hebda said it was traumatizing.  The sisters grew up with a close connection, dancing together as children, and both eventually grew into healthy professional dancers.

Heather even owned South Hills Dance Academy, and Dr. Hebda became a pharmacist. 

"We just were always there doing things together, so when she was gone, I had this big hole," she said.

So, Hebda filled that hole by sharing all she can about SCAD.

Dr. Agness Koczo, a Cardiologist at UPMC Magee's Heart Center, said it predominantly impacts young women.

She said it presents with all the signs of a heart attack.  Also, in women under fifty coming in with heart attacks, she said, "more than a third of those women who are presenting are actually from this type of heart attack from SCAD."

However, there are additional symptoms. 

"Women can experience more than just chest pain, so things like jaw pain, pain down the arm, pain in the back," Dr. Koczo explained.

It's why these women are on a mission to make sure the Steel City knows about SCAD. 

"Really increased education in our community to make sure women and men in Pittsburgh that are affected get effectively diagnosed and treated," Dr. Koczo said. 

However, treatment does exist at UPMC Magee's heart center, and through the nonprofit SCAD Research Inc., Hebda personally brought the 5K Scadaddle to Pittsburgh for the last three years. The event has raised thousands of dollars in Heather's honor.

"I think she'd be proud," Dr. Hebda said.

It's supporting the nonprofit's research and spreading awareness, so women can catch SCAD before it's too late. 

"We can prevent one more family from going through what I went through, one more sister, I feel like," said Hebda. "If I can help one more person, that's enough for me."

Planning for the next SCAD Research Inc. 5K in Pittsburgh is in the works for next October. For more information on SCAD Research Inc. and local resources at Magee.