• Over 2.2 million persons in the United States have atrial fibrillation (AF).
• AF is the most common heart arrhythmia in persons over 65 years of age.
• AF is a common cause of cardioembolic stroke.
  
  Read the full article in Circulation

• The most up-to-date statistics on heart disease, stroke, other vascular diseases, and their risk factors.
• New information detailing the role of family history and genetics in cardiovascular disease risk.
• Focus on progress toward achievement of the American Heart Association’s 2020 Impact Goals – “By 2020 improve cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20%, while reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20%.”
  
  Read the full article in Circulation

• In the US, about 610,000 new strokes occur each year and stroke is the 3rd leading cause of death in the US each year.
• Stroke is a leading cause of functional impairment, causing institutionalization or life with a permanent disability.
• Primary prevention of stroke must be our primary goal in order to avoid such devastations.
  
  Read the full article in Stroke

• Recognition of the “quality chasm” identified by the Institute of Medicinestimulated interest in the development of measures of quality of care and the use of such measures for the purposes of quality improvement and accountability.
• Consistent with its “Focus on Quality,” the American Heart Association has jointly developed six previous measure sets with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and other partners.
• The PAD Performance Measures are the seventh ACC/AHA performance measure set to be submitted to the National Quality Forum.

Read the full article in Circulation