Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine: Guidelines

The American College of Cardiology provides a framework of evidence-based clinical statements and guidelines developed by leaders in the field of cardiovascular medicine.

Guidelines present relevant evidence to help physicians weigh the benefits and risks of a particular diagnostic or therapeutic procedure. They should be essential in everyday clinical decision making.

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association publish medical guidelines and scientific statements on various cardiovascular disease and stroke topics. AHA/ASA volunteer scientists and healthcare professionals write the statements. The statements are supported by scientific studies published in recognized journals and have a rigorous review and approval process. Scientific statements generally include a review of data available on a specific subject, an evaluation on its relationship to overall cardiovascular disease science, and often an AHA/ASA position on the basis of that evaluation.

CCS Guidelines deal with topics of clinical relevance where there is sufficient literature but where clinical practice patterns are contentious, where literature is conflicting or where the evidence is rapidly accumulating or changing. They represent the consensus of a multidisciplinary panel of topic experts with a mandate to formulate disease-specific recommendations. The purpose is to synthesize and analyze the literature to provide evidence-based guidelines for Canadian practitioners.