European society of cardiology guidelines classification scheme
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1];Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sem A.O.F. Rikken, M.D.[2]
Overview
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 50,000 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the impact of cardiovascular disease in Europe.
The ESC achieves a variety of scientific and educational activities including the coordination of clinical practice guidelines, education courses and initiatives, pan-European surveys on specific disease areas. It also organizes the ESC Annual Congress, which is the largest medical meeting in Europe.
The ESC is comprised of 3 Councils, 5 Associations, 19 Working Groups and 50 National Cardiac Societies. The administrative headquarters of the ESC, based at the European Heart House, is situated in the South of France, in the area of Sophia Antipolis that is between Nice and Cannes.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [3]
ESC Class of Recommendation and Level of Evidence
Class of Recommendation
Class I: Evidence and/or general agreement that a given treatment or procedure is beneficial, useful, effective.
Class II: Conflicting evidence and/or a divergence of opinion about the usefulness/efficacy of the given treatment or procedure.
Class IIa: Weight of evidence/opinion is in favour of usefulness/efficacy.
Class IIb: Usefulness/efficacy is less well established by evidence/opinion.
Class III:
Evidence or general agreement that the given treatment or procedure is not useful/effective, and in some cases may be harmful.
Level of Evidence
Level of Evidence A: Data derived from multiple randomized clinical trials or meta-analyses.
Level of Evidence B: Data derived from a single randomized clinical trial or large non-randomized studies.
Level of Evidence C: Consensus of opinion of the experts and/or small studies, retrospective studies, registries.
Source