ACCF/AHA 2011 expert consensus document on hypertension in the elderly: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Clinical Expert Consensus Documents.

Authors with no symbol by their name were included to provide additional content expertise apart from organizational representation. ¶ ¶Former Task Force member during this writing effort. by selecting either the " By Topic " link or the " By Publication Date " link. To purchase additional reprints, call 843-216-2533 or e-mail [email protected]. Expert peer review of AHA Scientific Statements is conducted at the AHA National Center. For more on AHA statements and guidelines development, visit http://my.americanheart.org/statements and select " Policies and Development. " Permissions: Multiple copies, modification, alteration, enhancement, and/or distribution of this document are not permitted without the express permission of the American Heart Association. Instructions for obtaining permission are located at (ESH). Expert consensus documents are intended to inform practitioners, payers, and other interested parties of the opinion of ACCF and document cosponsors concerning evolving areas of clinical practice and/or technologies that are widely available or new to the practice community. Topics chosen for coverage by expert consensus documents are so designed because the evidence base, the experience with technology, and/or clinical practice are not considered sufficiently well developed to be evaluated by the formal ACCF/AHA practice guidelines process. Often the topic is the subject of considerable ongoing investigation. Thus, the reader should view the expert consensus document as the best attempt of the ACCF and document cosponsors to inform and guide clinical practice in areas where rigorous evidence may not yet be available or evidence to date is not widely applied to clinical practice. When feasible, expert consensus documents include indications or contraindications. Typically, formal recommendations are not provided in expert consensus documents as these documents do not formally grade the quality of evidence, and the provision of " Recommendations " is felt to be more appropriately within the purview of the ACCF/AHA practice guidelines. However, recommendations from ACCF/AHA practice guidelines and ACCF appropriate use criteria are presented where pertinent to the discussion. The writing committee is in agreement with these recommendations. Finally, some topics covered by expert consensus documents will be addressed subsequently by the ACCF/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines. The ACCF Task Force on Clinical Expert Consensus Documents makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that might arise as a result of an outside relationship or personal interest of a member of the writing panel. Specifically, all members of the writing committee are asked to provide disclosure statements …