Douglas P. Zipes

Guidelines for clinical intracardiac electrophysiological and catheter ablation procedures: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association task force on practice guidelines (Committee on Clinical Intracardiac electrophysiologic and catheter ablation procedures), developed in collaboration with the North American Society of pacing and electrophysiology☆

Guidelines for Clinical lntracardiac Electrophysiological and Catheter Ablation Procedures was approved by the American Heart Association SAC/Steering Committee in May 1995 and the American College of Cardiology Board of Trustees in March 1995 and was endorsed by the North American Society of Pacing and Eleetrophysiology Board of Directors in May 1995. This statement is being published simultaneously in Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology. Address for renrints: Educational Services, American College of Cardiology, l i l t ()ld Georgetown Road, Bethesda, Maryland 208141699. cardiology. Such analysis, carefully conducted, could potentially impact the cost of medical care without diminishing the effectiveness of that care. To this end, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association in 1980 established a Task Force on the Assessment of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Cardiovascular Procedures (now the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines) with the following charge: The task force of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association shall develop guidelines relative to the role of new therapeutic approaches and specific noninvasive and invasive procedures in the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease. The task force shall address, when appropriate, the contribution, uniqueness, sensitivity, specificity, indications, contraindications and cost-effectiveness of such diagnostic procedures and therapeutic modalities. The task force shall emphasize the role and value of the developed guidelines as an educational resource. The task force shall include a chair and six members, three representatives from the American Heart Association