Journal Articles: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major public health concern that affects millions of people worldwide. AF is associated with increasing health care costs and a higher risk of stroke with increasing comorbidities and age. Despite well-written guidelines for AF care, standardized management is lacking. Therein lies an opportunity to create AF centers of excellence (AF CoEs) with a patient-centered integrated focus and approach that can benefit patients and health care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists and technologists) alike.
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Related Resources
European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)/Heart Rhythm Society (HRS)/ Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS)/Latin American Heart Rhythm Society (LAHRS) expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation
Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is an important treatment option for maintaining a normal heart rhythm and reducing arrhythmia-related symptoms. This consensus statement provides healthcare providers with clinical practice standards and advice on which patients should receive ablation, how to perform the procedure, and how to manage patients before, during, and afterwards.
2012 American College of Cardiology Foundation/Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Expert Consensus Document on Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Standards Update: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force
Journal Articles: The last expert consensus document on cardiac catheterization laboratory standards was published in 2001 (1). Since then, many changes have occurred as the setting has evolved from being primarily diagnostic based into a therapeutic environment. Technology has changed both the imaging and reporting systems. The lower risk of invasive procedures has seen the expansion of cardiac catheterization laboratories to sites without onsite cardiovascular surgery backup and even to community hospitals where primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is now being performed. This has increased the importance of quality assurance (QA) and quality improvement (QI) initiatives. At the same time, the laboratory has become a multipurpose suite with both diagnostic procedures to investigate pulmonary hypertension and coronary flow and with therapeutic procedures that now include intervention into the cerebral and peripheral vascular systems as well as in structural heart disease. These new procedures have impacted both the adult and pediatric catheterization laboratories. The approaches now available allow for the treatment of even very complex heart disease and have led to the development of hybrid cardiac catheterization laboratories where a team of physicians (including invasive cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, noninvasive cardiologists, and anesthesiologists) is required.