Cardiology Update 2001A review of the most important topics published

Overview

College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association decided to take a new approach to the classification ofheart failure that emphasizes both the evolution and the progression of the disease, using potential risk factors andstructural disorders as criteria to identify the severity of a heart failure syndrome. Similarly, an ACC/AHA ClinicalCompetence Statement on electrocardiography and ambulatory electrocardiography was published with a specialemphasis on the computer interpretation of the electrocardiogram. Since various drugs were shown to induceelectrocardiographic abnormalities as e.g. QT prolongation associated with ventricular tachycardias, the FDAdecided to introduce higher regulatory requirements on the cardiac safety of novel drugs. In cardiovascular surgeryOctopus off-pump bypass was demonstrated to be a safe procedure for carefully selected patients with multivesselcoronary heart disease. Because of the extensive progress made in cardiovascular surgery, the management of severeheart failure has to be improved and early effective preventive measures have to be introduced to reduce the risk ofintractable heart failure. The „New guidelines for evaluating acute coronary syndrome“ stress the importance ofearly identifying and early treatment, including invasive strategy as PTCA with stenting.

Key words:
heart failure guidelines 2001, electrocardiography competence Statement, QT interval