ACC, HRS, AHA Release Consensus Statement on ICDs

The ACC, Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and American Heart Association (AHA) have released an Expert Consensus Statement on the Use of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) in Patients Who Are Not Included or Not Well Represented in Clinical Trials as part of Heart Rhythm 2014, the Heart Rhythm Society’s 35th Annual Scientific Sessions. The expert consensus statement provides first-of-its-kind guidance on ICD therapy for the management of patient populations who are not well represented in clinical trials and, as a result, not specifically included in existing guidelines. (Search Heart Rhythm 2014 on CardioSource.org for more on this guideline and other meeting highlights.)

ACC and Partners Collaborate on AFib Guideline Update

The ACC, American Heart Association (AHA) and the Heart Rhythm Society, in collaboration with the Society of Thoracic Surgery, recently released the 2014 Guideline for the Management of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) that incorporates new and existing knowledge derived from published clinical trials, basic science, and comprehensive review articles, along with evolving treatment strategies and new drugs.

The guideline, which supersedes the “2006 ACC/AHA/European Society of Cardiology Guideline for the Management of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation” and two subsequent focused updates from 2011, contains the most updated consensus of clinicians with broad expertise related to AFib and its treatment, including adult cardiology, electrophysiology, cardiothoracic surgery and heart failure.

Clinical Standards for Structured Reporting in Cardiac Catherization Released

The ACC, American Heart Association and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, in collaboration with 14 other professional societies, have released a health policy statement that defines the clinical standards for structured reporting in the cardiac catheterization suite. The goal of the statement is to provide a standardized means for how to report a variety of cardiac catheterization procedures and improve patient care by making clinical data more timely, accessible, consistent and usable.

Value Assessments Included in ACC/AHA Guidelines

The ACC and the American Heart Association (AHA) will begin to include value assessments when developing guidelines and performance measures in recognition of accelerating health care costs and the need for care to be of value to patients, according to a new ACC/AHA Statement on Cost/Value Methodology in Guidelines and Performance Measures published in March.

PCI Expert Consensus Document Stresses Safety

An expert consensus document written by a committee representing the ACC, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the American Heart Association, provides new safety and quality protocols in light of an increasing number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) being performed at low-volume centers without on-site cardiac surgery. The document outlines steps hospitals can take to provide the safest possible environment for PCI when the facility does not provide cardiac surgery as a backup should complications occur.

First Focused VHD Update Since 2008

New practice guidelines for the management of patients with valvular heart disease (VHD) were released March 3 by the ACC and the American Heart Association. The first focused update on the condition and its treatment since 2008, the new guideline includes restructured definitions of disease severity, and provides a more complex evaluation of interventional risk and indications for newer catheter-based therapies.