Appropriate use criteria for coronary revascularization

"If you're committed to fitness, the decision to climb a couple of flights of stairs rather than take the elevator is clear. But if you develop chest pain on the way up, deciding how to treat the symptoms of clogged arteries in your heart is much more complicated. Whether it's appropriate to treat chest pain with medical therapy alone or prescribe medical therapy and also perform revascularization - that is, by restoring good blood flow to the heart muscle with a balloon-tipped catheter or bypass surgery-depends on several factors that vary from patient to patient. In some cases the decision is obvious; in others, it's more nuanced. Now physicians, patients and health insurers have a practical tool for weighing each of those factors and arriving at the right treatment decision. The new document, titled Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary Revascularization, appears in the February 10, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology ( JACC ) and online at www.acc.org . The document will also be published in the January 5, 2009, online issues of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions (CCI) and Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, and online at www.scai.org" - News-Medical.net