Abstract
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is one of the most impactful public health problems in the United States. Despite the progress made in reducing the number of cardiac deaths, the incidence of sudden cardiac death remains high. Studies of life-saving interventions for prevention and treatment of SCA, like β-blockers, aldosterone antagonists, implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy, automated external defibrillators, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, have brought to light substantial underutilization, variations in care, and disparities. Thus, a comprehensive systems-based approach to addressing these gaps in care should be implemented. In addition to educating stakeholders about SCA and its prevention and developing tools that could help physicians identify patients who could benefit from primary prevention of SCA, robust performance measures with strong, evidence-based association between process performance and patient outcomes are needed. In this article, we review the burden of SCA and highlight the need to develop performance measures related to the prevention and treatment of SCA. (Am Heart J 2013;165:862-8.).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 862-868 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | American heart journal |
| Volume | 165 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2013 |
Funding
Dr Al-Khatib: None. Dr Sanders: research support from Medtronic. Dr Hernandez: research support from Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and Merck & Co; speakers’ bureau for Novartis; and honoraria from Amgen, AstraZeneca, and Medtronic. Dr Fonarow: research funding from the NHLBI and AHRQ (significant); consulting for Novartis (significant); Scios (modest); and honorarium from Medtronic (modest). Dr. Thomas: research support from Medtronic; consulting fees from Boston Scientific; and speakers' bureau for Sanofi Aventis and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr. Yancy: none to report. Dr Hayes: consulting fees from Boston Scientific (significant), Medtronic (modest), and St. Jude Medical (modest); honorarium from Medtronic (modest), Boston Scientific(modest), Biotronik (modest), St. Jude Medical (modest), Sorin Medical (modest); and royalties from Blackwell-Wiley (modest), and Cardiotext (modest). Dr. Curtis: research grants, consulting, and speakers' bureau for Medtronic; advisory boards for St. Jude Medical and Janssen Pharmaceuticals; and advisory board and speakers' bureau for Sanofi-Aventis. Dr. Sears: consulting for and research grants from Medtronic (all funds from Medtronic are directed to East Carolina University; this work is completely focused on ICD patient outcomes); speaker honorarium from Medtronic (modest), Boston Scientific (modest), St. Jude Medical (modest), and Biotronik (modest). Dr. Mirro: research support from St. Jude Medical, consulting fees from ZOLL, equity interest from iRhythm, speaker's bureau for Sanofi Aventis. Dr. Russo: consulting fees and research grant from Medtronic (modest) and Cameron Health, Inc. (modest); consulting fees from St. Jude Medical (modest), Boston Scientific (modest), and Sanofi-Aventis (modest).
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine