The field of pediatric preventive cardiology has transformed over the last several decades due to a better understanding of the development of cardiovascular disease, a better understanding of cardiometabolic health and the obesity epidemic. Cardiovascular disease was once thought of as an adult disease, but we now know its precursors develop as early as the first decade of life. Even the prenatal and perinatal periods are important times for cardiovascular health. Thus, prevention and treatment of these diseases have shifted toward the pediatric age group. Pediatric providers are rarely trained specifically to fully address this shift.

This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art review of the field and serves as a valuable resource for pediatricians, pediatric cardiologists and other pediatric care providers who treat pediatric and adolescent patients. It takes both a traditional and nontraditional approach to this topic.  The traditional mindset regarding pediatric preventive cardiology is the focus on pediatric patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia and other inherited lipid metabolism abnormalities and those with dyslipidemia due to obesity. The goal is for pediatric health care providers to think beyond this construct and to imagine this as a whole health construct; to broadly promote pediatric cardiometabolic and cardiovascular health rather than thinking about preventive cardiology in isolation. With that in mind, sections 2 and 3 expand the horizon of traditional pediatric preventive cardiology to include other systems that are impacted by and that impact pediatric cardiometabolic health. It also focuses on screening and prevention in addition to traditional and novel treatment approaches.

Written by experts in the field, Pediatric Preventive Cardiology serves as a very useful resource for physicians and researchers screening for, preventing and treating pediatric cardiometabolic and cardiovascular health disorders. It provides a concise yet comprehensive summary of the current status of the field and includes the most up to date scientific and clinical information.

Kendra M Ward, MD, MS

Professor of Pediatrics

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Director, Preventive Cardiology Program

Director, Cardiopulmonary Exercise Laboratory and Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

Elaine Urbina

Cincinnati Children's Hospital , Preventive Cardiology , Cincinnati, USA

Michele Mietus-Snyder

Preventive Cardiology , Children’s National Health System, Washington, USA