2017 ACC Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) develops a number of clinical policy documents to provide members with guidance on clinical topics. While clinical practice guidelines remain the primary mechanism for offering evidence based recommendations, such guidelines may contain gaps in how to make clinical decisions, particularly when equipoise is present in a topic. Expert consensus documents are intended to provide guidance for clinicians in areas where evidence may be limited, new and evolving, or lack sufficient data to fully inform clinical decision- making. In an effort to increase the impact of ACC clinical policy on patient care, an ACC Presidential Task Force was formed in 2014 to examine processes of ACC’s clinical documents. The main recommendation of the Task Force was a new focus on concise decision pathways and/or key points of care, instead of the traditional longer documents. The Task Force also established criteria for identifying high-value clinical topics to be addr...