Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
November 09, 2025
AHA Launches National Heart Valve Initiative to Save Lives
TLDR
- The American Heart Association's new Heart Valve Initiative provides healthcare systems with certification programs and data tools to gain competitive advantage in early diagnosis and treatment outcomes.
- The Heart Valve Initiative integrates hospital certification, professional education, patient engagement tools, and data registry systems to improve adherence to evidence-based care guidelines.
- This initiative aims to save lives and improve health outcomes for millions by ensuring timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment of heart valve disease worldwide.
- One in 40 Americans have heart valve disease, and the American Heart Association's new initiative uses innovative tools to detect it earlier and save lives.
Impact - Why it Matters
Heart valve disease represents a silent epidemic affecting millions globally, with many patients remaining undiagnosed until their condition becomes critical. This initiative matters because it addresses a crucial gap in cardiovascular care where delayed diagnosis and treatment can lead to preventable deaths and disability. For the aging population, particularly those over 65 who face increased risk, this coordinated approach could mean earlier detection, more timely interventions, and ultimately longer, healthier lives. The program's focus on standardizing care through hospital certification and professional education ensures that patients receive consistent, evidence-based treatment regardless of where they seek care. By improving systems for identifying and managing heart valve conditions, this initiative has the potential to significantly reduce the 60,000 annual deaths attributed to heart valve disease in the U.S. alone, while also enhancing quality of life for millions living with these conditions.
Summary
The American Heart Association is launching a comprehensive Heart Valve Initiative to address the growing global crisis of heart valve disease, which affects more than 28 million people worldwide and contributes to over 60,000 deaths annually in the United States. This nationwide effort represents a major shift in how the medical community approaches heart valve disease, with the American Heart Association establishing it as a critical focus area through coordinated programs in patient education, professional training, systems of care, and quality improvement. The initiative is made possible through foundational support from Edwards Lifesciences, a leading medical technology company with decades of experience in structural heart disease treatments, along with additional support from Kardigan.
The Heart Valve Initiative builds upon existing programs like Target: Aortic Stenosis™, which uses data registries to enhance patient experience from symptom onset through diagnosis and treatment. Over the next five years, the comprehensive program will implement multiple strategies including improving adherence to guideline-based care, expanding data collection in existing registries to include enhanced measurement of asymptomatic and moderate cases, building hospital certification programs, advancing public reporting, providing multimedia education for both healthcare professionals and patients, and launching national awareness campaigns. Dr. Mariell Jessup, chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association, emphasized the organization's unique position to lead this comprehensive effort that aims to ensure timely diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and longer, healthier lives for those living with valve disease.
Edwards Lifesciences, as the founding sponsor, brings crucial expertise and resources to this initiative, with Chief Scientific Officer Todd J. Brinton noting that too many patients with valve disease go undiagnosed until it's too late. The initiative specifically targets clinical metrics for improvement including timely diagnosis and management of severe and asymptomatic aortic stenosis, quality of echocardiographic assessment for heart valve diseases, and appropriate referral to follow-up cardiac care. With one in 40 Americans affected by heart valve disease and risk increasing significantly after age 65, this coordinated approach represents a vital step toward transforming care delivery and patient outcomes across the healthcare continuum.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by NewMediaWire. Read the original source here, AHA Launches National Heart Valve Initiative to Save Lives
