Canadian Cardiovascular Society

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) is the national voice for cardiovascular physicians and scientists in Canada. The CCS is a membership organization that represents more than 1,800 professionals in the cardiovascular field. Its mission is to promote cardiovascular health and care through knowledge translation, professional development and leadership in health policy.^[1]

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society logo.

The official journal of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society is the Canadian Journal of Cardiology (editor-in-chief – Stanley Nattel).

Partners and Affiliates

In addition to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC), a number of other Canadian cardiovascular associations have established affiliations with the CCS, including those that represent physician specialities, nurses, researchers, technicians, and other cardiovascular professionals. The CCS and its affiliates are all active participants at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, which is conducted by the CCS and HSFC.^{[citation needed]}

The Society also has strong ties with the Canadian Medical Association and is a specialty society of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Internationally, the CCS represents Canada at the Interamerican Society of Cardiology and together with the HSFC is the Canadian voice at the World Heart Federation.^{[citation needed]}

Choosing Wisely Canada recommendations

On April 2, 2014, the Society released a list of "Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question" as part of the Choosing Wisely Canada campaign.^[2] CCS recommendations include:

1. Don’t perform stress cardiac imaging or advanced non-invasive imaging when initially evaluating patients when there are no cardiac symptoms present unless the patient has high-risk markers. ^[3][4]

2. Don’t perform annual stress cardiac imaging or advanced non-invasive imaging in asymptomatic patients in a routine follow-up.^[5]

3. Don’t perform stress cardiac imaging or advanced non-invasive imaging in pre-operative assessment for patients who are scheduled to undergo low-risk non-cardiac surgery.^[3]

4. Don’t perform echocardiography in routine follow-up for adult patients who have mild, asymptomatic native valve disease with no change in signs or symptoms.^[3]

5. Don’t order annual electrocardiograms (ECGs) in patients who are low-risk and do not have any symptoms.^[6]

Canadian Cardiovascular Society Angina Grading Scale

Main article: Canadian Cardiovascular Society grading of angina pectoris

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society Angina Grading Scale is commonly used for the classification of severity of angina:^[7]

• Class I – Angina only during strenuous or prolonged physical activity
• Class II – Slight limitation, with angina only during vigorous physical activity
• Class III – Symptoms with everyday living activities, i.e., moderate limitation
• Class IV – Inability to perform any activity without angina or angina at rest, i.e., severe limitation

It is similar to the New York Heart Association Functional Classification of heart failure.

References

1. http://www.ccs.ca (official site)
2. Levinson, W.; Huynh, T. (2014). "Engaging physicians and patients in conversations about unnecessary tests and procedures: Choosing Wisely Canada". Canadian Medical Association Journal. 186 (5): 325–6. doi:10.1503/cmaj.131674. PMC 3956556. PMID 24549128.
3. Douglas, P. S.; Garcia, M. J.; Haines, D. E.; Lai, W. W.; Manning, W. J.; Patel, A. R.; Picard, M. H.; Polk, D. M.; Ragosta, M.; Ward, R. P.; Douglas, R. B.; Weiner, R. B.; Society for Cardiovascular Angiography Interventions; Society of Critical Care Medicine; American Society of Echocardiography; American Society of Nuclear Cardiology; Heart Failure Society of America; Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance; Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography; American Heart Association; Heart Rhythm Society (2011). "ACCF/ASE/AHA/ASNC/HFSA/HRS/SCAI/SCCM/SCCT/SCMR 2011 Appropriate Use Criteria for Echocardiography". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 57 (9): 1126–1166. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2010.11.002. PMID 21349406.
4. Taylor, A. J.; Cerqueira, M.; Hodgson, J. M. .; Mark, D.; Min, J.; O'Gara, P.; Rubin, G. D.; American College of Cardiology Foundation Appropriate Use Criteria Task Force; Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography; American College Of, R.; American Heart, A.; American Society of Echocardiography; American Society of Nuclear Cardiology; North American Society for Cardiovascular Imaging; Society for Cardiovascular Angiography Interventions; Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance; Kramer, C. M.; Berman; Brown; Chaudhry, F. A.; Cury, R. C.; Desai, M. Y.; Einstein, A. J.; Gomes, A. S.; Harrington, R.; Hoffmann, U.; Khare, R.; Lesser; McGann; Rosenberg, A. (2010). "ACCF/SCCT/ACR/AHA/ASE/ASNC/NASCI/SCAI/SCMR 2010 Appropriate Use Criteria for Cardiac Computed Tomography". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 56 (22): 1864–1894. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2010.07.005. PMID 21087721.
5. Natarajan, Madhu K.; Paul, Narinder; Mercuri, Mathew; Waller, Edward J.; Leipsic, Jonathon; Traboulsi, Mouhieddin; Banijamali, Hamid S.; Benson, Lee; Sheth, Tej N.; Simpson, Christopher S.; Brydie, Allan; Love, Michael P.; Gallo, Richard (2013). "Canadian Cardiovascular Society Position Statement on Radiation Exposure from Cardiac Imaging and Interventional Procedures". Canadian Journal of Cardiology. 29 (11): 1361–8. doi:10.1016/j.cjca.2013.06.002. PMID 24035289.
6. "U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Screening for coronary heart disease with electrocardiography". 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
7. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Canadian Cardiovascular Society
• CCS Guideline Programs