In recent years there has been an increasing tendency towards the optimisation of medical practice through the application of evidence-based medicine.
In the main guidelines session, the new ESC guidelines were presented for the first time and this session provided a unique opportunity to review within a limited amount of time all the new guidelines, highlighted by the Chairman of each Task Force. These new guidelines relate to topics that are much-awaited in the cardiological community, namely: Management of acute and chronic heart failure; Diagnosis and treatment of acute pulmonary embolism; management of STEMI; as well as the role of endomyocardial biopsy.
The main session on guidelines during the annual congress is not the end of the life of these guidelines but, on the contrary, it is the beginning. During the Congress, there will be other sessions where each of these guidelines will be presented in more detail, developing controversies, and covering specific topics such as the differences between European and American approaches, and discussing matters related to implementation. The new ESC guidelines will also be addressed and discussed during the clinical practice and Focus imaging sessions as well as during the “Meet the Experts” sessions.
This year, a compilation of all the available pocket guidelines will be available in the form of the ESC guidelines Compendium 2008, which will be distributed at the ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines booth.
Finally, it is fair to acknowledge those who made it possible to have these guidelines presented in Munich - the Task Force members and reviewers, representatives of the ESC associations and Working Groups, as well as the Committee for Practice Guidelines and the Practice Guidelines Department
Notes to editor
This congress report accompanies a presentation given at the ESC Congress 2008. Written by the author himself/herself, this report does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Society of Cardiology.