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Pathfast sponsors continuing
medical educational events for healthcare professionals across the
country. You can register for upcoming sessions here, or watch archived
webinar recordings at any time, from anywhere. These Pathfast sponsored events are presented by
key opinion leaders in the world of
healthcare and research, and managed by Whitehat Communications to
ensure a professional environment. All programs are free, and offer P.A.C.E.®
Continuing Education Credits for up to six months after the live event.
Be sure to check back often for new event postings. |
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The Evolving Role of Troponin in the
AHA/ACC Chest Pain Guidelines
Live Event: Wednesday, August 3,
2022 | 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
PACE®
Credit available until February 3, 2023 | Florida Lab
Credit available
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With the advent of high sensitivity troponin, the approach to
evaluation of chest pain patients has evolved significantly, yet
many clinicians remain uncertain about how to best incorporate
relevant, emerging concepts into clinical practice.
A lack of understanding regarding emerging approaches to chest
pain evaluation contributes to inefficient risk stratification
and overutilization of healthcare resources.
This webinar will provide a road map for clinicians to
understand the landscape surrounding troponin use in the
evaluation of chest pain, using the recently published AHA/ACC
chest pain guidelines as the basis for evidence and
recommendations provided.
This webinar will:
- Review the current landscape of troponin testing
and related implications on acute chest pain
evaluation
- Examine the recent AHA/ACC chest pain
guidelines, with an emphasis on recommendations
specific to troponin
- Identify pathways and protocols for acute chest
pain evaluation with a focus on nuances related to
differing commercially available troponin assays
- Discuss the implementation of clinical decision
pathways for acute chest pain evaluation
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Presenter:
Phillip Levy, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA
Professor, Emergency Medicine
Wayne State University
Associate Vice President
Translational Sciences and Clinical Research Innovation

Dr. Phillip Levy is the Edward S Thomas endowed Professor in
Emergency Medicine at Wayne State University where he serves as
Associate Vice President for Translational Sciences and Clinical
Research Innovation. Dr. Levy is a Fellow of multiple
professional societies including the American College of
Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the American Heart Association
(AHA), and the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
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Natriuretic Peptides for the
Diagnosis and Prognosis of Heart Failure
Live Event: Tuesday, June 21,
2022 | 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
PACE®
Credit available until December 21, 2022 | Florida Lab
Credit available
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Heart Failure (HF) afflicts a great many elderly Americans and
is the compromised ability of the heart to pump sufficient blood
to meet the patient’s physiological demands. This supply-demand
mismatch causes hemodynamic stress, which results in symptoms
including breathlessness, fatigue, shortness of breath when
lying down, swelling in the legs, ankles and feet, rapid or
irregular heartbeat and reduced ability to exercise. HF
diagnosis is important to diagnose and treat to relieve these
symptoms and manage this disease. The hemodynamic stress caused
by HF causes release of the heart hormone B-type natriuretic
peptide (BNP). Detection of BNP’s co-metabolite NT-proBNP is a
very sensitive and reliable biomarker of acute heart failure and
should be available at all acute care medical centers.
Interpretation of natriuretic peptides comes with caveats and
part of the focus of webinar talk will be to gain not just an
understanding of the signs and symptoms of HF and the associated
diagnostic thresholds for BNP and NT-proBNP, but learn about
comorbidities such as renal disease and obesity and how these
may impact the levels of natriuretic peptides in the presence or
absence of heart failure. This webinar will also focus on
understanding other cardiovascular diseases that may influence
natriuretic peptide levels and the prognostic implications of an
elevated level with and without a diagnosis of heart failure.
This webinar will:
- Explain the signs and
symptoms of HF
- Discuss the optimal diagnostic thresholds for
NT-proBNP to diagnose HF
- Explain the prognostic implications of an
elevated natriuretic peptide level with or without a
diagnosis of HF
- Identify potential confounders whether they be
medical comorbidities or treatments for HF that may
influence natriuretic peptides and recognize if
these might impact the threshold to diagnose HF
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Presenter:
Christopher R. deFilippi, MD, FACC
Vice-chairman of Academic Affairs
Inova Heart and Vascular Institute

Christopher deFilippi is the Vice-chairman of Academic Affairs
for the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute. He joined Inova in
2016 and previously had been an Associate professor with the
Division of Cardiology at the University of Maryland. He has
published over 245 peer reviewed publications most of which have
focused on circulating biomarkers. His in a PI on an active R01
and R21 NIH grants also focusing on biomarker and proteomics
insights in diuretic choice in heart failure. He runs a core
laboratory at Inova working with multiple industry partners, the
NIH also having served as a corelab for a large phase III heart
failure study. |
ED Chest Pain Risk Stratification:
Moving Beyond the HEART Score
Live Event: Thursday, May 5,
2022 | 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
PACE®
Credit available until November 5, 2022 | Florida Lab
Credit available
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Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a
leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Each year,
7-9 million patients with symptoms of possible ACS present to
U.S. emergency departments (EDs). Many of these patients are
hospitalized for in-depth evaluations, yet <10% are ultimately
diagnosed with ACS. Correctly identifying the few patients with
ACS is challenging and high-stakes for ED providers. ACS
patients often have atypical symptoms. Missing ACS is associated
with a two-fold increase in mortality, and missed ACS is the top
reason for malpractice claims against ED physicians.
Use of accurate accelerated diagnostic protocols and high
sensitivity troponin assays (hs-cTn) can improve the efficiency
and quality of care by safely decreasing unnecessary healthcare
utilization. The HEART Pathway is a validated care algorithm
designed to safely identify patients with acute chest pain for
early discharge from the ED without stress testing or coronary
angiography. In a randomized clinical trial, the HEART Pathway
reduced hospitalizations by 21% and cost by >$200 per patient,
without any adverse cardiac events occurring in low-risk
patients.
This webinar will discuss the diagnostic dilemma of acute chest
pain in the ED and how new strategies and pathways have evolved
to safely and more efficiently care for patients with chest
pain.
This webinar will:
- Identify the current challenges and
inefficiencies of ED chest pain evaluations
- Assess the importance and limitations of
troponins
- Discuss how accelerated diagnostic protocols aid
in risk stratification
- Explain how clinical decision support tools can
help standardize care and improve pathway adherence
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Presenter:
Simon A. Mahler, MD, MS
Professor and Vice Chair of Research
Department of Emergency Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine

Dr. Mahler is a Professor and Vice Chair of Research for the
Department of Emergency Medicine at the Wake Forest School of
Medicine. He completed a Master of Science in Clinical and
Population Translational Sciences at Wake Forest University and
a T-32 mentored research program in Quality Care and Outcomes
Research in Cardiovascular Disease. Dr. Mahler has led several
important clinical trials examining care pathways for patients
with acute chest pain and is widely recognized as an expert in
the risk stratification of Emergency Department patients with
possible acute coronary syndrome. |
Management of Rural Patients with
Chest Pain
Live Event: Wednesday, March 23,
2022 | 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
PACE®
Credit available until September 23, 2022 | Florida Lab
Credit available
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Rural Americans are more likely to be unhealthy, older, living
in poverty, uninsured, and medically underserved. These
differences lead to higher cardiovascular death rates and
attenuation in the mortality reduction from medical
breakthroughs in rural areas when compared to urban communities.
Over the past 40 years, the gap in health outcomes among
patients living in rural communities versus urban areas has
widened. Mortality differences are multifactorial, but include
increased alcohol and drug use, smoking, and poor diet as well
as joblessness and physical inactivity. Current statistics
reveal that rural communities are becoming more diverse, which
further adds many race- and ethnic-specific health disparities
to the rural setting. In addition, there is heterogeneity in
socioeconomic status across rural locations and this variability
is not necessarily correlated with population size or distance
from urban areas.
Achieving health equity and improving cardiovascular health for
rural Americans was one of the CDC’s Healthy People 2020
overarching goals. The American Heart Association (AHA) has
clearly stated their commitment to reduce health disparities and
recently issued a presidential advisory and “Call to Action” for
stakeholders to prioritize rural communities in all capacities
including research, education, and quality improvement. Heart
disease is the leading cause of death in the US, and
disproportionately impacts patients in rural areas. Healthcare
resources are limited in rural communities. This presentation
will assist you in providing evidence based care to your rural
patients.
This webinar will:
- Appreciate an overview of how heart disease
affects rural patients
- Discuss risk stratification of patients with
symptoms concerning for ACS, PE and HF
- Explain integration of point of care biomarkers
in risk stratification
- Describe telehealth and integration of
prehospital providers with primary care providers
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Presenter:
Jason P. Stopyra, MD, MS
Atrium Health
Wake Forest Baptist

Following graduation from residency Dr. Stopyra entered private
practice at a rural community hospital Emergency Department. He
also became the county EMS Medical Director and Medical Director
of the Health Department. In 2013, he accepted an academic
position with Wake Forest University with a concentration in
Emergency Medical Services and Cardiovascular research. In 2016
he was named the North Carolina Doctor of the Year. He earned
his Masters degree in clinical research in 2019 and looks
forward to advancing rural cardiovascular care both in and out
of the hospital. |
Cardiac Biomarkers: Current Status,
Future Promise
Live Event: Wednesday, February 23,
2022 | 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
PACE®
Credit available until August 23, 2022 | Florida Lab
Credit available
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Heart Disease, including myocardial infarction (MI) and heart
failure (HF), is the biggest killer of both men and women in the
USA and Western world. Making the correct diagnosis in patients
suspected cardiac diseases is critical as these conditions are
life threatening. The standard of care for diagnosis of MI and
HF requires timely availability of cardiac troponin and
NT-proBNP testing so that patients can receive evidence-based
management strategies known to improve outcomes.
Diagnosing cardiac disease, including MI and HF, is critical to
acute patient management.
In the context of MI, cardiac troponin measurements are the
cornerstone for acute diagnosis and risk assessment. For
diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure, NT-proBNP has
become a standard.
This webinar will focus on the characteristics and
considerations that are important when selecting cardiac
troponin and NT-proBNP assays. Insight into interpretation of
cardiac troponin and NT-proBNP assays will also be discussed.
And examination of the benefits of point of care testing (POCT)
for cardiac troponin and NT-proBNP will be a key part of this
presentation.
This webinar will:
- Describe the biomarker criteria needed to
establish the diagnosis of MI
- Explain the criteria for and definition of early
generation, contemporary, and high sensitivity
cardiac troponin assays
- Identify the symptoms of heart failure
- Review the biomarkers that are used for the
diagnosis of acute heart failure
- Evaluate NT-proBNP as a diagnostically sensitive
and specific marker of HF
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Presenter:
Robert H. Christenson, Ph.D., DABCC, FACB
Professor of Pathology, Medical and Research Technology
Maryland School of Medicine

Dr. Christenson is a Professor of Pathology and Professor of
Medical and Research Technology at the University of Maryland
School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Clinically, Dr.
Christenson is Medical Director of the Core Laboratories and
Point of Care Testing at the University of Maryland Medical
Center. Dr. Christenson has published over 295 peer-reviewed
papers, 6 books, 32 textbook chapters and holds four patents. |
These webinars are sponsored by |
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© 2022 | Whitehat
Communications, a division of Martek Inc. |
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