ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 guidelines for management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death

^*European Heart Rhythm Association Official Representative.

^†Heart Rhythm Society Official Representative.

^‡Immediate Past Chair.

This document was approved by the American College of Cardiology Foundation Board of Trustees in August 2006, by the American Heart Association Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee in July 2006, and by the European Society of Cardiology Committee for Practice Guidelines in July 2006.

When citing this document, the American College of Cardiology Foundation, the American Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology request that the following citation format be used: Zipes DP, Camm AJ, Borggrefe M, Buxton AE, Chaitman B, Fromer M, Gregoratos G, Klein G, Moss AJ, Myerburg RJ, Priori SG, Quinones MA, Roden DM, Silka MJ, Tracy C. ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 guidelines for management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force and the European Society of Cardiology Committee for Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Develop Guidelines for Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death). Europace 2006;8:746–837.

This article has been copublished in the September 5, 2006 issue of Circulation and September 2006 issue of Europace (online publish-ahead-of-print 25 August 2006).

Copies: This document is available on the World Wide Web sites of the American College of Cardiology (www.acc.org), the American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org), and the European Society of Cardiology (www.escardio.org). Single and bulk reprints of both the online full-text guidelines and the published executive summary (published in the September 5, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the September 5, 2006 issue of Circulation, and the September 17, 2006 issue of the European Heart Journal) are available from Oxford University Press by contacting Special Sales, Journals Division, Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, UK. Telephone +44 (0)1865 353827, Fax +44 (0)1865 353774, work mobile +44 (0)7841 322925, or e-mail [email protected].

Single copies of the executive summary and the full-text guidelines are also available by calling 800-253-4636 or writing to the American College of Cardiology Foundation, Resource Center, at 9111 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814-1699. To purchase bulk reprints, Fax 212-633-3820 or e-mail [email protected].

The content of these European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines has been published for personal and educational use only. No commercial use is authorized. No part of the ESC Guidelines may be translated or reproduced in any form without written permission from the ESC. Permission can be obtained upon submission of a written request to Oxford University Press, the publisher of the European Heart Journal and the party authorized to handle such permissions on behalf of the ESC.

Disclaimer. The ESC Guidelines represent the views of the ESC and were arrived at after careful consideration of the available evidence at the time they were written. Health professionals are encouraged to take them fully into account when exercising their clinical judgement. The guidelines do not, however, override the individual responsibility of health professionals to make appropriate decisions in the circumstances of the individual patients, in consultation with that patient, and where appropriate and necessary the patient's guardian or carer. It is also the health professional's responsibility to verify the rules and regulations applicable to drugs and devices at the time of prescription.