Further Evolution of the ACC/AHA Clinical Practice Guideline Recommendation Classification System: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines

Abstract

For 3 decades, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have jointly developed clinical practice guidelines in an effort to align patient care with scientific evidence (1). The “2015 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Management of Patients With Supraventricular Tachycardia” (2) introduces the latest recommendation classification system (Table 1), which has continued to evolve. The present brief commentary summarizes and explains the changes incorporated in the current scheme. More detailed reviews of the evolution of ACC/AHA guideline methodology have been published 1, 3, 4, 5.