New HF Treatment Recommendations Issued by ACC
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has released an expert consensus decision pathway including 10 key issues regarding the treatment of heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).
The 2017 ACC Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for Optimization of Heart Failure Treatment was based on the 2017 update to the HF guidelines set forth by the ACC, the American Heart Association (AHA), and the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA).
__________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
HF 5-Year Survival Is Poor, Regardless of Ejection Fraction
Diabetes Worsens HF Risk in Heart Disease Patients
__________________________________________________________________________
The issues addressed by the panel included:
- Initiating, adding, or switching therapy to new evidence- and guideline-based treatments for HFrEF.
- Achieving optimal therapy given multiple drugs for HF, including improved clinical assessment that may prompt additional changes in guideline-based therapy.
- Knowing when to refer to an HF specialist.
- Addressing challenges of care coordination.
- Improving treatment adherence.
- Knowing how to treat specific patient cohorts, including African Americans, frail individuals, and older adults.
- Managing patients’ cost of HF care.
- Managing the increasing complexity of HF.
- Managing common comorbidities in HF patients.
- Integrating palliative care and transitioning to hospice care.
For the full version of the 2017 ACC Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for Optimization of Heart Failure Treatment, click here.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Yancy CW, Januzzi Jr. JL, Allen LA, et al; Heart Failure Pathway Writing Committee. 2017 ACC expert consensus decision pathway for optimization of heart failure treatment: answers to 10 pivotal issues about heart failure with reduced ejection fraction [Published online December 22, 2017]. J Am Coll Cardiol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2017.11.025.