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9 guidelines, consensus statements affecting the cardiology field
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In recent months, several new and updated guidelines have been released that impact care practices and patient populations across the cardiology field. These guidelines have included new recommendations for the treatment and management of specific conditions, updates to classifications that alter the threshold for intervention and strategies for preventing and lowering the risk for CVD among patients.
Cardiology Today has compiled the most recently issued clinical practice guidelines, updates to existing guidelines and recommendations and consensus statements released by major associations.
AHA/ACC/Heart Rhythm Society release updated AF management guideline
Major new recommendations within this update included a call for increased use of radiofrequency ablation to treat nonvalvular AF, an additional three novel anticoagulants as potential treatment options, a reduction in the role of aspirin for treatment in this population, and the use of the CHA2DS2-VASc calculator to assess thromboembolic risk. Read more
Guidelines target pulmonary hypertension in patients with sickle cell disease
The American Thoracic Society formulated clinical practice guidelines to better identify and manage patients with sickle cell disease who are at increased risk for death from pulmonary hypertension. The guidelines, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, elucidate the preferred approaches to assessing and managing mortality risk. Read more
Valvular heart disease guideline lowers intervention threshold, provides new disease classification
The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association issued a new guideline for the management of patients with valvular heart disease, with recommendations that lower the threshold for intervention in certain patients and provide updated definitions of disease severity. The guideline is the first on valvular heart disease since a focused update was issued in 2008. Read more
New guidelines outline stroke risks unique to women
A new set of guidelines on the prevention of stroke in women calls for the development of a female-specific stroke risk score and recommends risk-reduction strategies related to preeclampsia, oral contraceptives, hormone therapy and other factors. The guidelines, developed by a writing group from the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association, focus on risk factors that are unique to women or more common in women than men. Read more
Guidelines released for diagnosis, treatment of HF in children
The Canadian Cardiovascular Society has issued guidelines on the presentation, diagnosis and medical management of HF in children. The goal of these new guidelines is to assist practitioners in primary care departments or EDs who may have little practical experience with the presentation or management of HF in children. Read more
AHA issues new recommendations for thrombosis in pediatric and congenital heart disease
The American Heart Association has issued a scientific statement on the prevention and treatment of thrombosis in children and adults with congenital heart disease and children with acquired heart disease. Read more
New guideline for management of high BP in adults released
A new guideline for the management of high BP in adults, developed by the Eighth Joint National Committee and containing nine recommendations and a treatment algorithm, has been published online in JAMA. The guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for the management of high BP, with different BP goals and treatments recommended for patients based on age, race/ethnicity, kidney function and diabetes status. Read more
ESC issues guidelines on diabetes, CVD
The European Society of Cardiology published a set of guidelines in collaboration with the European Association for the Study of Diabetes on diabetes, prediabetes and CVD. The authors of the guidelines encourage a multidisciplinary approach to diabetes management that includes a cardiologist, a diabetes expert, a surgeon, ophthalmologist, nephrologist and psychiatrist. Read more
AHA releases consensus statement on improved survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest
In a recent consensus statement, the American Heart Association defined in-hospital cardiac arrest as occurring whether the patient has been admitted or not, and “for which resuscitation is attempted with chest compressions, defibrillation, or both.” The guidelines were published, in part, due to wide variation in reported incidence rates of in-hospital cardiac arrest incidence rates. Read more