Alan D. Bell

The Use of Antiplatelet Therapy in the Outpatient Setting: Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines

Antiplatelet agents are a cornerstone of therapy for patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease. There is presently a lack of comprehensive guidelines focusing on the use of antiplatelet drugs in patients currently manifesting or at elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. The Canadian Antiplatelet Therapy Guidelines Committee reviewed existing disease-based guidelines and subsequently published literature and used expert opinion and review to develop guidelines on the use of antiplatelet therapy in the outpatient setting. This full document has been summarized in an Executive Summary published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology and may be found at http://www.ccs.ca/. Antiplatelet therapy appears to be generally underused, perhaps in part because of a lack of clear, evidence-based guidance. Here, we provide specific guidelines for secondary prevention in patients discharged from hospital following acute coronary syndromes, post-percutaneous coronary intervention, post-coronary artery bypass grafting, patients with a history of transient cerebral ischemic events or strokes, and patients with peripheral arterial disease. Issues related to primary prevention are also addressed, in addition to special clinical contexts such as diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, pregnancy/lactation, and perioperative management. Recommendations are provided regarding pharmacologic interactions that may occur during combination therapy with warfarin, clopidogrel and proton-pump inhibitors, or acetylsalicylic acid and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as for the management of bleeding complications.

Focused 2012 Update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Use of Antiplatelet Therapy

The initial 2010 Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Guidelines for the Use of Antiplatelet Therapy in the Outpatient Setting were published in May 2011. As part of a planned re-evaluation within 2 years, we conducted an extensive literature search encompassing all topics included in the 2010 CCS Guidelines, and concluded that there were sufficient new data to merit revisiting the guidance on antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention in the first year after acute coronary syndrome (ACS), percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary artery bypass grafting, and the interaction between clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors. In addition, new clinical trials information about the efficacy and safety of combining novel oral anticoagulants with antiplatelet therapy in ACS justified the addition of a new section of recommendations to the Guidelines. In this focused update, we provide recommendations for the use of clopidogrel, ticagrelor, and prasugrel in non-ST elevation ACS, avoidance of prasugrel in patients with previous stroke/transient ischemic attack, higher doses of clopidogrel (j) /day) for the first 6 days after ACS, and the preferential use of prasugrel or ticagrelor after percutaneous coronary intervention in ACS. For non-ACS stented patients, we recommend acetylsalicylic acid/clopidogrel for 1 year, with at least 1 month of therapy for bare-metal stent patients and 3 months for drug-eluting stent patients unable to tolerate year-long double therapy. We also consider therapy for patients with a history of stent thrombosis, the indications for longer-term treatment, discontinuation timing preoperatively, indications for changing agents, the management of antiplatelet therapy before and after bypass surgery, and use/selection of proton pump inhibitors along with antiplatelet agents.

The Use of Antiplatelet Therapy in the Outpatient Setting: Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines Executive Summary

Antiplatelet agents are a cornerstone of therapy for patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease. There is presently a lack of comprehensive guidelines focusing on the use of antiplatelet drugs in patients currently manifesting or at elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. The Canadian Antiplatelet Therapy Guidelines Committee reviewed existing disease-based guidelines and subsequently published literature and used expert opinion and review to develop guidelines on the use of antiplatelet therapy in the outpatient setting. This Executive Summary provides an abbreviated version of the principal recommendations. Antiplatelet therapy appears to be generally underused, perhaps in part because of a lack of clear, evidence-based guidance. Here, we provide specific guidelines for secondary prevention in patients discharged from hospital after acute coronary syndromes, percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary artery bypass grafting; patients with a history of transient cerebral ischemic events or strokes; and patients with peripheral arterial disease. Issues related to primary prevention are also addressed, in addition to special clinical contexts such as diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, pregnancy or lactation, and perioperative management. Recommendations are provided regarding pharmacologic interactions that may occur during combination therapy with warfarin, clopidogrel, and proton-pump inhibitors, or aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as for the management of bleeding complications. The complete guidelines document is published as a supplementary issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology and is available at http://www.ccs.ca/.

Diagnosis of asthma in adults

Sara is a 41-year-old secretary in an autobody shop who comes to see you for evaluation of intermittent episodes of wheeze and shortness of breath that have progressed over the past 2 years. She feels that she has more “colds” than her workplace colleague, each of which lasts for 2–3 weeks,

The 2014 Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines Companion: A Practical Approach to the Use of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines Program has generated a comprehensive series of documents regarding the management of atrial fibrillation (AF) between 2010 and 2014. The guidelines provide evidence-based consensus management recommendations in a broad range of areas. These guidelines have proven useful in informing clinical practice, but often lack detail in specifications related to practical application, particularly for areas in which the evidence base is limited or conflicting. Based on feedback from the community, the CCS Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines Committee has identified a number of areas that require clarification to address commonly asked practical questions related to guidelines application. In the present article a number of such questions are presented and suggestions about how they can be answered are suggested. Among the issues considered are: (1) What duration of AF is clinically significant? (2) How are the risk factors in the CCS Algorithm for selecting anticoagulation therapy derived and defined? (3) How is valvular heart disease defined and how do different forms of valve disease affect the choice of anticoagulant therapy for AF patients? (4) How should we quantify renal dysfunction and how does it affect therapeutic choices? The response to these questions and the underlying logic are provided, along with an indication of future research needed where no specific approach can presently be recommended based on the literature.

One-year costs associated with cardiovascular disease in Canada: Insights from the REduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) registry

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES To provide a contemporary estimate of the economic burden of atherothrombosis in Canada, annual cardiovascular-related hospitalizations, medication use and associated costs across the entire spectrum of atherothrombotic disease were examined. METHODS The REduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) registry enrolled 1964 Canadian outpatients with coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease or peripheral arterial disease (PAD), or three or more cardiovascular risk factors. Baseline data on cardiovascular risk factors and associated medication use, and one-year follow-up data on cardiovascular events, hospitalizations, procedures and medication use were collected. Annual hospitalization and medication costs (Canadian dollars) were derived and compared among patients according to the presence of established atherothrombotic disease at baseline, specific arterial beds affected and the number of affected arterial beds. RESULTS Average annualized medication costs were

Cardiovascular risk profiles and outcomes of Chinese living inside and outside China

1,683,

Management of asthma in adults

1,523 and

Drug Reimbursement Policies in Canada—Need for Improved Access to Critical Therapies:

1,776 for patients with zero, one, and two or three symptomatic arterial beds, respectively. Average annual hospitalization costs increased significantly with the number of beds affected (

2018 Canadian Cardiovascular Society/Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology Focused Update of the Guidelines for the Use of Antiplatelet Therapy

380,