2012 American College of Cardiology Foundation/Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Expert Consensus Document on Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Standards Update: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents

Abstract

This document has been developed as an expert consensus document by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), in collaboration with the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM). Expert consensus documents are intended to inform practitioners, payers, and other interested parties of the opinion of ACCF and document cosponsors concerning evolving areas of clinical practice and/or technologies that are widely available or new to the practice community. Topics chosen for coverage by this ECD are so designed because the evidence base, the experience with technology, and/or clinical practice are not considered sufficiently well developed to be evaluated by the formal ACCF/American Heart Association (AHA) Practice Guidelines process. Often the topic is the subject of considerable ongoing investigation. Thus, the reader should view the ECD as the best attempt of the ACCF and document cosponsors to inform and guide clinical practice in areas where rigorous evidence may not yet be available or evidence to date is not widely applied to clinical practice. When feasible, ECDs include indications or contraindications. Some topics covered by ECDs will be addressed subsequently by the ACCF/AHA Practice Guidelines Committee. The ACCF Task Force on Clinical Expert Consensus Documents (TF CECD) makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that might arise as a result of an outside relationship or personal interest of a member of the writing panel. Specifically, all members of the writing panel are asked to provide disclosure statements of all such relationships that might be perceived as relevant to the writing effort. This information is documented in a table, reviewed by the parent task force before final writing committee selections are made, reviewed by the writing committee in conjunction with each conference call and/or meeting of the group, updated as changes occur throughout the document development process, and ultimately published as an appendix to the document. External peer reviewers of the document are asked to provide this information as well. The disclosure tables for writing committee members and peer reviewers are listed in Appendices 1 and 2, respectively, of this document. Additionally, in the spirit of complete transparency, writing committee members' comprehensive disclosure information—including relationships with industry and other entities that do not pertain to this document—is available online. Disclosure information for members of the ACCF TF CECD—as the oversight group for this document development process—is also available online. The work of the writing committee was supported exclusively by the ACCF without commercial support. Writing committee members volunteered their time to this effort. Meetings and/or conference calls of the writing committee were confidential and attended only by committee members.