ACC Releases Guidance for Periprocedural Management of Anticoagulation in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation

​New guidance from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) lays out a decision-making pathway for managing anticoagulation in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation who are treated with oral anticoagulants, as published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The ACC estimates that 250,000 patients with the condition must temporarily interrupt their anticoagulation therapy in North America every year in preparation for a surgical procedure. ACC says that the numbers are high enough to warrant a standardized, evidence-based protocol for temporarily interrupting the therapy to improve patient outcomes. The pathway specifically addresses "1) whether and when anticoagulant therapy should be interrupted;