New version of the European guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice

Abstract

In 2016 a new edition of the European guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice was published. Guidelines based on evidence-based medicine are a guide to primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases for health workers. The ofcial translation of the Russian version is expected in July 2017. This article is devoted to a review of the main provisions of these guidelines. In the updated version, compared with the version of 2012, more attention is paid to the population approach, specifc interventions, special groups of patients, the classes of evidence have been changed for a number of recommendations, and emphasis is placed on a multidisciplinary approach to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. For the frst time, experts point out the inexpediency of assessing cardiovascular risk in men under 40 and women under 50 without known risk factors due to possible false positive results. Patients with erectile dysfunction are not recommended to conduct routine screening of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, much attention is paid to the defnition of quality of life, diagnosis and treatment of anxiety and depression of the patient, as these conditions increase cardiovascular risk and affect patient adherence to therapy.

Keywords

• cardiovascular diseases
• prevention
• guidelines
• evidence-based medicine