EuroHeartPath: Leading Innovation in Cardiovascular Pathways for Improved Patient Outcomes

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) present a significant public health challenge throughout Europe, being the leading cause of morbidity and a major contributor to mortality.

Despite technological advancements and preventative strategies, the burden of CVD remains substantial, and the cardiac care pathways across Europe are inadequately mapped.

The overarching goal of the EuroHeartPath consortium is to transform cardiovascular care pathways across the continuum of care.

By adopting a pan-European scope and facilitating cross-country comparisons, EuroHeartPath aims to elucidate how care is organized and delivered, providing deeper insights and identifying best practices for integration with the support of stakeholders, including ESC, WONCA, EUPHA, and EPA.EuroHeartPath will simultaneously conduct 18 pathfinder studies to optimize the personalized early detection, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, and coronary disease, with a particular emphasis on prevention.

These studies are categorized into four key areas: 1) novel artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications, such as automated AI analysis of ECGs and Holters, and AI for predicting cardiomyopathies and cardiovascular events; 2) digital health integration, aimed at improving the diagnosis of aortic stenosis and enhancing secondary prevention measures; 3) point-of-care testing, including the use of point-of-care diagnostics in primary practice and ambulances to exclude heart failure; and 4) technology and robotics, encompassing robotic echocardiography and invasive diagnostics in obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease.EuroHeartPath will create a paradigm shift in the management and treatment of heart disease, offering substantial scientific, societal, and economic impacts across the entire patient health journey with a patient centric approach.