The 2020 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Management of Patients with Valvular Heart Disease not only updates aortic valve stenosis, mitral regurgitation, prosthetic valves, infective endocarditis and antithrombotic treatment on the basis of the 2017 guidelines update for valvular heart disease, but also involves aortic valve regurgitation, bicuspid aortic valve, mitral stenosis, tricuspid regurgitation, combined valve disease, pregnancy with valvular disease, valve disease complicated with coronary heart disease, valve disease complicated with non-cardiac surgery and the prospect of comprehensive management of valve disease. It covers a wide range of contents, which are introduced in detail and comprehensively. This paper interprets some highlights and core issues, including the top 10 take-home messages, the severity of valvular heart disease, and the updates in the management of aortic valve stenosis, aortic valve regurgitation, bicuspid aortic valve, mitral stenosis and mitral regurgitation.
Surgical management of osteoarthritis of the knee: evidence based guideline contains 38 recommendations pertaining to the preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative care of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) who are considering surgical treatment. Compared with the domestic consensus on diagnosis and treatment for KOA, this clinical practice guideline (CPG) prepared by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) has some advantages in terms of methodology selection and recommendation. Therefore, it is necessary for us to interpret this CPG to speed up the understanding and dissemination of the CPG. The ultimate aims are to: ① strengthen the standardization and understanding of surgical treatment of KOA; ② enhance the understanding of clinicians for this CPG in treating KOA; ③ speed up the development of guideline development methodologies in China; ④ provide methodological guidance for the development of CPG based on the current situation in China.
In July 2023, six scientific organizations, including the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC), jointly released the 2023 AHA/ACC/ACCP/ASPC/NLA/PCNA guideline for the management of patients with chronic coronary disease. By reviewing the latest scientific data, the guideline reemphasized the importance of a healthy diet, regular physical activity and smoking cessation in cardiovascular health. Routine testing is limited to patients with changes in clinical or functional status. Regarding the clinical management of CCD, the guideline limited the use of beta-blockers (BB) and updated recommendations for the usage of three drugs, including sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, and bempedoic acid.
Chinese guideline for diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis (2021 edition) was published in the Chinese Journal of Orthopaedics, providing abundant recommendations on osteoarthritis (OA) issues. In this paper, the methodological and reporting qualities of the guideline were explained and assessed by using quality appraisal tools, such as appraisal of guidelines research and evaluation-China (AGREE-China), Institute of Medicine Committee (IOM), and reporting items for practice guidelines in healthcare (RIGHT). It also aimed to provide personalized treatments for specific patients, support readers in understanding the principle of OA treatment, and standardize OA treatment strategies. In addition, this study would contribute to the clinical promotion of the current guidelines and provide the necessary references for clinical practice guidelines in treating OA in the future.
Brain injury after cardiopulmonary resuscitation is closely related to the survival rate and prognosis of neurological function of cardiac arrest (CA) patients. Recently, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) published a practice guideline which had updated the evaluation of different treatments for reducing brain injury following cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In order to master and transmit AAN 2017 practice guideline on reducing brain injury following cardiopulmonary resuscitation, this paper interprets the new AAN clinical practice guideline to assist Chinese clinicians for better studying the guideline.
Anemia and coagulopathy are frequently presented in critically ill patients on the intensive care unit. Scientific use of blood products assist the treatment of critically ill patients. However, life-threatening adverse effects are also a risk. In 2020, the European Society of Critical Care Medicine (ESICM) published a clinical practice guideline on transfusion strategies for non-bleeding critically ill adults in an attempt to resolve the transfusion strategy problems of relevant critically ill patients. This paper interprets the key contents in order to assist Chinese clinicians for better understanding and using of the guideline.
Respiratory oscillometry is a lung function test that measures the mechanical properties of respiratory system by the forced oscillation technique. Oscillometry can be used in those who cannot perform traditional lung function tests, including young children. It is also an important tool to assess small airways function in clinical and research fields. In 2020, the European Respiratory Society published a new technical standard for respiratory oscillometry, which offered updated technical recommendations on the hardware, software, testing protocols and quality control of oscillometry measurements. This paper interpreted the new technical standard, for providing technical suggestions regarding oscillometry measurements in clinical and research settings, and as a reference for developing technical statements and recommendations for oscillometry in China.
Due to the special structure and material of the flexible gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopes, it is difficult to reprocess endoscopes. Infections caused by endoscope reprocessing failure often occur. Strict implementation of the guidelines/relevant national standards and manufacturer's instructions is essential to prevent the occurrence of endoscopy-related infections and ensure patient safety. In 2020, ASGE (American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) released the "multisociety guideline on reprocessing flexible GI endoscopes and accessories". This paper aimed to promote the understanding of the reprocessing process of flexible GI endoscopes by the endoscope decontamination staff, and to provide references for clinical practice.
The development of evidence-based social care guidelines need to follow certain standards and procedures, the process must be objective, fair, and transparent to ensure that guidelines are developed, scientific, timely, and available. Currently, many organizations have issued standard methods for developing guidelines, but the methods are mainly focused on clinical practice, and few methodological studies on the development of social care guidelines. To promote the development of evidence-based social care guidelines in China and strengthen the transformation from research to practice, this article is based on the "Social Care Guidance Manual" published on the NICE website, combined with the actual situation of domestic social care, inviting domestic evidence-based social science research experts to discuss and specifically introduce the development methods of evidence-based social care guidelines, and this article takes the "Guidelines for Providing Social Work Services to Adults with Complex Needs" as an example, interpreting the process for developing guidelines to make the guide development method more transparent.
