AHA, ACC Release Standard Definition Set for Diagnosis and Treatment of COVID-19

June 23, 2022—The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) announced the release of a comprehensive set of data standards to help standardize definitions and set the framework to capture and better understand how COVID-19 impacts cardiovascular health.

“2022 AHA/ACC Key Data Elements and Definitions for Cardiovascular and Noncardiovascular Complications of COVID-19” was written by Biykem Bozkurt, MD, et al and published online in Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The document was endorsed by the Heart Failure Society of America and the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions.

As noted in the ACC/AHA press release, patients with cardiovascular risk factors or a preexisting cardiovascular condition are at greater risk for severe infection from COVID-19, and there is increased importance of understanding the acute and longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health.

However, the societies noted that there has not been clarity or consensus on definitions of cardiovascular conditions related to COVID-19. Broad agreement on common vocabulary and definitions is needed to pool or compare data from electronic health records, clinical registries, administrative data sets, and other databases, and to assess whether these data are applicable to clinical practice and research endeavors.

According to ACC and AHA, the new document is intended for use by investigators, registry developers, and clinicians. It is proposed as a framework for the International Classification of Diseases’ ICD-10 code development of COVID-19–related cardiovascular conditions. The standards are also of great importance to patients, clinicians, investigators, scientists, administrators, public health officials, policymakers, and payers.

ACC and AHA stated that the new data standard provides health care professionals a framework with which to lead conversations with their patients by standardizing terminology and attributes for the diagnosis of COVID-19; cardiovascular and noncardiovascular complications; symptoms and signs; diagnostic procedures; pharmacological therapy; preventive, therapeutic and supportive procedures; and end-of-life care management.