ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Management of Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction—Executive Summary A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Revise the 1999 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction)

Although considerable improvement has occurred in the process of care for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), room for improvement exists (1–3). The purpose of the present guideline is to focus on the numerous advances in the diagnosis and management of patients with STEMI since 1999. This is reflected in the changed name of the guideline: “ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Management of Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.” The final recommendations for indications for a diagnostic procedure, a particular therapy, or an intervention in patients with STEMI summarize both clinical evidence and expert opinion (Table 1).To provide clinicians with a set of recommendations that can easily be translated into the practice of caring for patients with STEMI, this guideline is organized around the chronology of the interface between the patient and the clinician. The full guideline is available at http://www.acc.org/clinical/guidelines/stemi/index.htm

1999 Update: ACC/AHA guidelines for the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Committee on Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction)

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction have been reviewed over the past 21/2years since their initial publication (J Am Coll Cardiol 1996;28:1328–428) to ensure their continued relevancy. The guidelines have been updated to include the most significant advances that have occurred in the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during that time frame. This Update was developed to keep the guidelines current without republishing them in their entirety. The Update represents a new procedure of the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines. These guidelines will be reviewed and updated as necessary until it is deemed appropriate to revise and republish the entire document

1999 Update: ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: Executive Summary and Recommendations: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Committee on Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction)

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction have been reviewed over the past 2.5 years since their initial publication in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1996;28:1328–1428) to ensure their continued relevancy. The guidelines have been updated to include the most significant advances that have occurred in the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during that time frame. This update was developed to keep the guidelines current without republishing the entire document. This effort represents a new procedure of the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines. These guidelines will be reviewed and updated as necessary until it is deemed appropriate to revise and republish the entire document

ACC/AHA guidelines for percutaneous coronary intervention (revision of the 1993 PTCA guidelines) - Executive summary: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Committee to Revise the 1993 Guidelines for Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary angioplasty) Endorsed by the society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Task Force on Practice Guidelines was formed to gather information and make recommendations about appropriate use of technology for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease. Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) are an important group of technologies in this regard. Although initially limited to PTCA, and termed percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), PCI now includes other new techniques capable of relieving coronary narrowing. Accordingly, in this document, rotational atherectomy, directional atherectomy, extraction atherectomy, laser angioplasty, implantation of intracoronary stents and other catheter devices for treating coronary atherosclerosis are considered components of PCI. In this context PTCA will be used to refer to those studies using primarily PTCA while PCI will refer to the broader group of percutaneous techniques. These new technologies have impacted the effectiveness and safety profile initially established for PTCA. Moreover, important advances have occurred in the use of adjunctive medical therapies such as glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptor blockers. In addition, since publication of the previous Guidelines in 1993, greater experience in the performance of PCI in patients with acute coronary syndromes and in community hospital settings has been gained. In view of these developments, further review and revision of the guidelines is warranted. This document reflects the opinion of the third ACC/AHA committee charged with revising the guidelines for PTCA to include the broader group of technologies now termed PCI

ACC/AHA/NASPE 2002 Guideline Update for Implantation of Cardiac Pacemakers and Antiarrhythmia Devices: Summary article. A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (ACC/AHA/NASPE Committee to update the 1998 pacemaker guidelines)

The current update of the ACC/AHA/NASPE Guidelines for Implantation of Cardiac Pacemakers and Antiarrhythmia Devices includes several significant changes in the recommendations and in the supporting narrative portion. In this summary, we list the updated recommendations along with the respective 1998 recommendations, each one accompanied by a brief comment outlining the rationale for the changes, additions, or deletions. All new or revised recommendations are listed in the second column and appear in boldface type. References that support either the 1998 recommendations that have not changed or the new or revised recommendations are noted in parentheses at the end of each recommendation. The reader is referred to the full-text version of the guidelines posted on the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), and North American Society for Pacing and Electrophysiology (NASPE) World Wide Web sites for a more detailed exposition of the rationale for these changes. In addition to the recommendation changes listed here, this update includes an expanded section on the selection of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) that reflects the technical advances that have taken place since 1998. A brief expanded summary of pacemaker follow-up procedures is also new to these guidelines. For both of these expanded sections, the reader is referred to the online full-text version