title: What to Expect From the Evolving Field of Geriatric Cardiology.
abstract: The population of older adults is expanding rapidly, and aging predisposes to cardiovascular disease. The principle of patient-centered care must respond to the preponderance of cardiac disease that now occurs in combination with the complexities of old age. Geriatric cardiology melds cardiovascular perspectives with multimorbidity, polypharmacy, frailty, cognitive decline, and other clinical, social, financial, and psychological dimensions of aging. Although some assume that a cardiologist may instinctively cultivate some of these skills over the course of a career, we assert that the volume and complexity of older cardiovascular patients in contemporary practice warrants a more direct approach to achieve suitable training and a more reliable process of care. We present a rationale and vision for geriatric cardiology as a melding of primary cardiovascular and geriatrics skills, thereby infusing cardiology practice with expanded proficiencies in diagnosis, risks, care coordination, communications, end-of-life, and other competences required to best manage older cardiovascular patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; Center for Quality Aging, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology and the Cardiovascular Center, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Orr
authors.affiliation: Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dodson
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Nanette K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Wenger
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Cardiology Section, American College of Cardiology, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.affiliation: Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: John Gordon
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Harold
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine and Public Health and Epidemiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Tinetti
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Mathew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Cardiology Section, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: formand@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Forman
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D002309:Cardiology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans
keywords: aging; cardiovascular disease; geriatrics; quality; training