CAD review course
slated February

With its theme Emerging Concepts, Shifting Practices, the Philippine Heart Center will be holding a symposium as part of its 2007 Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Review Course on February 23-24.

Heart specialist and medical symposium head, Dr. Gilbert C. Vilela, said the event will be unlike typical hospital review courses, which focus mainly on previous patient cases, istead, this one will aim to identify what works best for patients by reviewing treatment options and clinical results.

Vilela observed that many physicians are not updated in the management of cardiovascular (like hypertension) and metabolic (like diabetes) diseases – conditions that have not been adequately addressed despite the availability of new therapeutic options.

Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle (the coronary arteries) harden and narrow, reducing or obstructing much-needed blood flow and oxygen to the heart. This results in angina, heart attack, heart failure, or arrhythmias. CAD is the most common type of heart disease. In the U.S. it is the leading cause of death among men and women. "Much of medicine is based on choosing the best treatment, and we need to ensure that the choice is supported by good scientific evidence," says Vilela.

The idea behind the 2007 CAD review course is to bridge the gap between science and the clinics – to push for the application of the "new emerging science" into the medical practice, so that Filipino patients would have better treatment outcomes, Vilela says.