Tag Archives: NICE

The new guideline, which covers the management of heart failure in adults in primary and secondary care, contains new and updated recommendations on diagnosis, pharmacological treatment, monitoring and rehabilitation. Key priorities for implementation in the guidance include: Referring patients with suspected heart failure and previous myocardial infarction (MI) to transthoracic Doppler 2D echocardiography and specialist assessment within two weeks. Measuring serum natriuretic peptides in patients with suspected heart failure without previous MI; referring those with very high levels of serum natriuretic peptides to urgent transthoracic Dopp

The guidance sets out a range of evidence-based recommendations for effective action to help reduce cardiovascular disease and make it easier to enable individuals to make healthy choices. It focuses mainly on food production and its influence on the nation’s diet, and it aims to change the cardiovascular risk factors faced by the UK population through regulation, legislation, subsidy and taxation or by rearranging the physical layout of communities. Dr Simon Capewell (University of Liverpool, UK) who is also vice-chair of the NICE Guidance Development Group, said: “There was a feeling that dietary interventions have been largely neglecte

They note that although cardiovascular deaths are declining, there were still over 40,000 patients with NSTEMI acute coronary syndromes admitted to hospital in England and Wales in 2009. With worrying increases in the incidence of key risk factors – obesity, diabetes, and the tendency for people to take less exercise – the management of these conditions remains a high priority. As its starting point, the guideline recommends that as soon as a diagnosis of unstable angina or NSTEMI has been made, and aspirin and antithrombin drugs have been offered, patients should be formally assessed for their individual risk of future adverse cardiovasc

The guideline, jointly developed with the National Clinical Guidelines Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions, represents a significant change in practice in some key areas of diagnosing acute coronary sydromes (ACS) and angina. The focus of the new guideline is on the diagnosis of chest pain which is suspected to be of cardiac origin, so that appropriate treatment can be provided. It notes that chest pain is experienced by some 20–40% of the general population at some time during their lives, and accounts for up to 1% of visits to GPs, approximately 700,000 visits (5%) to emergency departments and up to 25% of emergency admissions to hosp

The guidance states: “Although the committee did not change their conclusion that dronedarone is not as effective as other anti-arrhythmic drugs in preventing the recurrence of AF, it accepted evidence that the drug did not lead to an increase in the risk of mortality, unlike the anti-arrhythmics with which it was compared. The Appraisal Committee also noted comments from patients and clinical experts received during consultation on the previous draft that all current anti-arrhythmic drugs, but particularly amiodarone, had side effects which had a significant impact on quality of life with long term use. Overall, the Committee concluded tha

NICE calculates that an estimated 25,000 people who are admitted to hospital die from preventable VTE each year.  The NICE guideline, jointly developed with the National Clinical Guideline Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions, recommends that all patients should be assessed for risk of developing blood clots on admission to hospital, and then given preventative treatment that suits their individual needs. Options include anticoagulant drugs such as heparin, anti-embolism stockings and foot impulse or pneumatic devices.  This advice covers all patients admitted to hospital – including those having day-case procedures – and not just th

But UK cardiologists and arrhythmia patient/professional groups, led by the Atrial Fibrillation Association and Heart Rhythm UK, have been petitioning to have this draft recommendation overturned. A second NICE meeting on dronedarone was held at the end of February to consider all the comments that have been received, and a final guidance is expected in the next few weeks. As part of the campaign to allow dronedarone to be available for NHS prescription, more than 100 doctors have signed an open letter to NICE setting out reasons why the drug is needed. A Parliamentary Stakeholder Investigation on the issue has been held and a Parliament Earl

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