Guidelines and recommendations within the field
of electrophysiological (EP) practice are usually drawn from the results of
multicentre trials, often conducted in selected centers and under special
circumstances. In contrast, daily practice is generally influenced by many
factors, which may be different from those that are considered in strictly
controlled scientific conditions. Even though patient registries may mirror
daily practice, the enrollment of consecutive patients for longer periods of
time for such purpose within the health care community is costly and time
consuming. A short form of survey directed to physicians, could within a
reasonable time frame highlight areas where the evidence base for clinical
practice and implementation of guidelines needs to be augmented. Such short
form of surveys, called EP Wires, are on-line surveys carefully constructed to
give a picture of daily cardiac EP practice in Europe without burdening the
responders with extensive data collection. The network of centers formed, are
contacted on a regular basis every month. It is the purpose of this summary to
present the result of four such EP wires, all of which concern devices, with
special emphasis on centre differences and adherence to guidelines.
Credits: Carina BlomströmLundqvist; Maria G Bongiorni