Physicians' Academy for Cardiovascular Education

New ACC/AHA primary prevention guideline takes a patient-centered approach

News - Mar. 17, 2019

2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Presented at ACC.19 by Donna K. Arnett and Amit Khera

The 2019 Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease guideline from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) were presented at ACC’s 68th Annual Scientific Session. More than 80% of CV disease in the USA are preventable through lifestyle changes. The guideline committee therefore aimed to compose a comprehensive document, which serves as a central resource for doctors with strategies that can be used and tailored to help people without a history of heart disease stay healthy.

Dr. Donna Arnett (Lexington, KY, VS) discussed the main topics relevant to prevention:

Dr. Amit Khera (Dallas, TX, USA) next discussed several risk factors that need to be addressed for primary prevention. Specific guidelines also exist for these risk factors, and the recommendations were kept as close as possible to the ones in those dedicated guidelines.

He briefly touched on the sections that dealt with assessment of CV risk, management of high blood pressure or hypertension with nonpharmacological interventions and/or antihypertensive medications, cholesterol, and management of diabetes and the associated increased CV risk with lifestyle interventions and/or medication, which in some patients may include members of the new classes of SGLT2 inhibitors or GLP-1 receptor agonists. Recommendations on aspirin use are now clarified based on recent data: aspirin should only rarely be used for primary prevention of myocardial infarction and stroke. This requires extra attention in clinical practice, since many people take aspirin although the evidence does not support a preventive role in their situation.

- Our coverage of ACC.19 is based on the information provided during the congress -

The guidelines are published simultaneously in JACC

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