Current guidelines for the management of valvular heart disease

Below are links to the two current guidelines for the management of valvular heart disease, the 2014 AHA/ACC guidelines and the 2012 ESC/EACTS guidelines (both available free).

• Joint Task Force on the Management of Valvular Heart Disease of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), Vahanian A, Alfieri O, Andreotti F, Antunes MJ, et al. Guidelines on the management of valvular heart disease (version 2012). European heart journal. 2012. pp. 2451–96.

The 2014 AHA/ACC guidelines restructure the classification of valvular heart disease  into “at risk,” “progressive,” “asymptomatic severe,” and “symptomatic severe”. This is designed to help clinicians determine the optimal timing of intervention. The stages take into consideration the degree of valve narrowing or leakage, the presence of symptoms, the response of the left and/or right ventricle to the valve lesion, and any change in heart rhythm.

The 2014 AHA/ACC guidelines also addresses the complex use and management of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI, also referred to as transcatheter aortic valve replacement).