The majority of physicians agree there is a need for effective risk stratification to enable early, accurate and cost-effective identification of those individuals who would benefit from therapeutic interventions. However, there is a lack of consensus on the use and utility of novel assessment tools that may identify at-risk patients and provide valuable surrogate endpoints. Please share with us your thoughts on the use of biomarkers in clinical care.

Join Drs Linde, Daubert and Gold in an intriguing discussion on the impact of cardiac resynchronization therapy on remodeling and disease progression, with a review of new data by Dr Abraham.

There has been much discussion regarding the importance of heart rate (HR) as a prognostic index of cardiovascular risk. Recent data strongly suggest that the beneficial effects of drug treatment, in areas such areas as postmyocardial infarction prophylaxis and heart failure, may be due to its ability to reduce HR. The exact mechanism(s) by which a HR under control confers its protection to the myocardium has yet to be elucidated, but may be related to hemodynamic stabilization that may reduce the pathogenesis of plaque disruption and also be anti-ischaemic, antiarrhythmic and anti-atherosclerotic.

Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the single leading cause of death in the United States. Multiple risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia contribute to multiple pathophysiologic/neurohormonal processes that affect the development of CV disease. This program will review current and emerging approaches to CV risk management. CME Provider: The Academy for Healthcare Education, Inc. Supported by an educational grant from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.