The Heart team
Summary
Following the SYNTAX trial, the multidisciplinary Heart Team has been emphasised as a tool for screening patients with coronary artery disease. The introduction of transcatheter-based therapies for the treatment of aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation has expanded the indication for a Heart Team discussion. Recent and currently ongoing randomised trials now mandate a Heart Team discussion to identify patients eligible for randomisation. Risk models are frequently used during the Heart Team discussion to guide clinicians in the decision-making process. Popular models are the STS score, EuroSCORE, and SYNTAX (II) score. Although there is no data supporting the superiority of a Heart Team discussion over clinicians’ individual evaluation, current European and North American guidelines recommend that appropriate patients should be discussed by a Heart Team.
Introduction
Coronary artery disease (CAD) has historically been treated with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Since the introduction of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), first with balloon angioplasty and subsequently with stents, interventional cardiologists have increasingly treated patients with PCI 1, 2
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