Sheppard, Mary N.

Abstract Heart involvement in eosinophilia represents a rare entity with substantial cardiac morbidity and mortality. This disorder is often overlooked and diagnosed in its advanced stages. In a subgroup of patients with eosinophilic heart disease, peripheral blood eosinophilia may not be present, and the biopsy of the affected organ or tissue is essential to establish the correct diagnosis. In this clinical consensus statement, an expert consensus group reviews the epidemiology, aetiology, diagnosis, and management of eosinophilic heart disease. The aim of the document is to increase awareness about the cardiac involvement associated with eosinophilia in order to diagnose the disease in early phases and prevent deleterious heart damage and adverse outcomes of affected individuals. The spectrum of physiological and immunological derangements requires a multidisciplinary approach for optimal management of affected individuals.

AbstractThis international multidisciplinary document intends to provide clinicians with evidence‐based practical patient‐centered recommendations for evaluating patients and decedents with (aborted) sudden cardiac arrest and their families. The document includes a framework for the investigation of the family allowing steps to be taken, should an inherited condition be found, to minimize further events in affected relatives. Integral to the process is counseling of the patients and families, not only because of the emotionally charged subject, but because finding (or not finding) the cause of the arrest may influence management of family members. The formation of multidisciplinary teams is essential to provide a complete service to the patients and their families, and the varied expertise of the writing committee was formulated to reflect this need. The document sections were divided up and drafted by the writing committee members according to their expertise. The recommendations represent the consensus opinion of the entire writing committee, graded by Class of Recommendation and Level of Evidence. The recommendations were opened for public comment and reviewed by the relevant scientific and clinical document committees of the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS); the document underwent external review and endorsement by the partner and collaborating societies. While the recommendations are for optimal care, it is recognized that not all resources will be available to all clinicians. Nevertheless, this document articulates the evaluation that the clinician should aspire to provide for patients with sudden cardiac arrest, decedents with sudden unexplained death, and their families.