Physicians Help Change Guidelines for Cardiovascular Patients to Include Recommendation for Influenza Vaccination
HOUSTON (May 18, 2006) Patients with cardiovascular disease are now recommended to get an influenza vaccination as part of acomprehensive effort to avoid more cardiovascular complications. The “American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Guidelines for Secondary Prevention for Patients with Coronary and Other Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease: 2006 Update” were published in this week’s edition of Circulation. The change was due as a direct result of the efforts of senior research scientist Mohammad Madjid, M.D. and S. Ward Casscells, M.D., associate director of Basic Cardiology Research at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.
“Despite the fact that Centers for Disease Control has been recommending influenza vaccine for patients with heart disease, utilization among cardiac patients has been much lower than optimal. For the past several years, we have been calling these organizations to promote the inclusion of the flu vaccine in these guidelines for cardiovascular patients. With the official endorsement for the vaccination, it is our hope that cardiologists and other physicians will be further encouraged to promote influenza vaccination in this patient population. Based on our work at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s, we believe this is a decision that will save many lives and prevent future recurrence of cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Madjid.
The Guidelines for Secondary Prevention include a number of evidence-based recommendations for physicians who care for patients with cardiovascular disease to reduce their risk of additional cardiovascular events. The report states that aggressive comprehensive risk factor management improves survival, reduces recurrent events and the need for interventional procedures, and improves quality of life for these patients.
“Our research has shown that there is no question that patients who have chronic cardiovascular disease are at increased risk for complications from influenza. That includes patients with coronary and vascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, atherosclerotic aortic disease and carotid artery disease,” said Dr. Casscells.
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World-renowned cardiovascular surgeon Denton A. Cooley, MD, founded the Texas Heart Institute in 1962 for the study and treatment of diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Together with the Institute's clinical partner, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, for the past 15 years it has been ranked among the nation's top ten heart centers in an annual survey published by U.S. News & World Report. For more information about the Institute, please visit www.texasheart.org.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System comprises the flagship St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; St. Luke’s Community Medical Center–The Woodlands, opened in 2003; St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, a charity devoted to assessing and enhancing community health, especially among the underserved; and Kelsey-Seybold Management, LLP, overseeing 21 area clinic locations. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is home to the Texas Heart® Institute, founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD, and consistently ranked among the top 10 cardiology and heart surgery centers in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Affiliated with several nursing schools and two medical schools, St. Luke’s serves as the primary private adult teaching hospital for Baylor College of Medicine. St. Luke’s was the first hospital in Texas named a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, and the Health System has been recognized by FORTUNE as among “100 Best Companies to Work For” (2002, 2004 and 2005) and by Houston Business Journal as a top employer in Houston for three consecutive years.
