The AHA Guidelines and Scientifi c Statements Handbook
Infl uenza vaccination
Patients with cardiovascular disease should have an
annual infl uenza vaccination. I (B)
Comparison with other guidelines
These guideline recommendations are consistent
with those from NIH including JNC 7 [4] and the
ATP III Update [5,6]. The ESC guidelines [7] for
prevention have similar recommendations regard-
ing the risk factors to be treated with minor differ-
ences of target levels i.e. optional LDL-C of 80 mg/dL
and HgB A1C of 6.5%. The ESC guidelines recom-
mend different waist circumference target levels and
do not include recommendations for infl uenza
vaccine; however, both organizations emphasize the
importance of comprehensive risk factor reduction
to improve cardiovascular outcomes for patients
with cardiovascular disease.
Ongoing research efforts and future
directions
It is anticipated that additional evidence will be
forthcoming regarding the treatment of dyslipid-
emia among patients with established CVD. Specifi -
cally information regarding optimal target levels for
LDL-C and potential benefi ts derived from treating
low HDL-C and increased triglycerides should be
forthcoming. In addition the results of the ACCORD
Trial [8,9] evaluating comprehensive risk factor
control among patients with diabetes, as well as new
guideline statements from JNC [8] regarding treat-
ment of hypertension and ATP IV with recom-
mendations on the management of dyslipidemia,
are expected to result in an update of these
recommendations.References available online at http://www.Wiley.com/go/
AHAGuidelineHandbook.