- I'm Mark Creager.
Immediate Past President of
the American Heart Association.
And I'm pleased to announce
that scientific sessions
in New Orleans today, the publication
of the Peripheral Artery
Disease Guidelines for 2016.
PAD, a disorder in which
peripheral arteries are blocked
by atherosclerotic plaque, is
a serious medical condition
affecting 8.5 million Americans
affecting 8.5 million Americans
and over 200 million people worldwide.
Risk factors for PAD like
in other manifestations
of atherosclerosis include
older age, diabetes,
smoking, high cholesterol,
and high blood pressure.
Patients with PAD are at increased risk
for cardiovascular events,
such as miocartical infarction and stroke
as well as amputation of affected limbs
if the condition is
not adequately managed.
Fortunately, early diagnosis and treatment
with exercise and medical therapy
can improve and even save lives.
And peripheral revascularization
in appropriate circumstances
can save limbs.
And for that reason, we at
the American Heart Association
are working to improve awareness
of peripheral artery disease
with a number of sessions
at the meeting this year dedicated to
disseminating the 2016 PAD guidelines
disseminating the 2016 PAD guidelines
and other recent advances in PAD research.
The first session this
morning provided a thorough
introduction of the new
guidelines to practitioners,
including an overview of the
history of the PAD guidelines,
the guideline development process,
the recommended diagnostic
approach to PAD,
and a review of the evidence
for various possible treatment approaches.
Practitioners familiar
with previous iterations
of the guidelines will
notice that the guidelines
support the use of an
ankle brachial index test
for diagnosis of PAD in
patients at increased risk,
such as those affected by
diabetes or who smoke cigarettes,
or those over the age of 65.
And the use of structured
exercise is recommended
to improve symptoms and walking capacity.
The 2016 PAD guidelines
The 2016 PAD guidelines
capture the current scientific knowledge
and recommend the best
approaches to preventing,
diagnosing, and treating
peripheral artery disease.
But we still have a long way to go
in improving care for our patients.
For that reason, in New Orleans this year
we have planned a number
of session intended
to advance our understanding of the field.
In addition to the guideline session,
we have planned a joint session
with the Brazilian Society of Cardiology
that will examine current insight
into lowering extremity
peripheral artery disease,
a Frontiers in Science Thrombosis Summit,
and a Vascular Disease Summit.
And finally on Tuesday,
a main event session
on maximizing PAD outcomes in 2016
on maximizing PAD outcomes in 2016
will discuss much of the new science
underpinning the PAD
treatment recommendations.
These sessions, and the
PAD guidelines themselves,
are designed to focus on
the most pressing challenges
in diagnosing, treating, and living
in diagnosing, treating, and living
with peripheral atherosclerotic
vascular disease.
They provide an opportunity
for experts of the field,
to hash out in nitty gritty detail,
the best possible treatments
for specific problems and
to review what we know
and what we still need to learn
to ensure the best possible
outcomes for our patients.
