[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 144 (Wednesday, October 15, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2052]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2052]]
                    RECOGNIZING THE CRUSADE PROGRAM

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                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 15, 2003

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, heart disease is the 
leading cause of death in the United States--affecting an estimated 62 
million Americans. It is increasingly evident that we must become more 
vigilant in preventing and treating this serious illness. I am pleased 
today to share with my colleagues a nationwide quality improvement 
initiative that is headed by researchers at Duke Clinical Research 
Institute in my district and involves leading cardiologists from around 
the country, including another prominent research institution in my 
district, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  CRUSADE (Can Rapid Risk Stratification of Unstable Angina Patients 
Suppress ADverse Outcomes with Early Implementation of the ACC/AHA 
Guidelines) is studying cardiovascular care in hospitals around the 
nation and adherence to the American Heart Association (AHA) and the 
American College of Cardiology (ACC) acute coronary syndrome 
guidelines. These treatment guidelines help doctors who evaluate and 
treat patients arriving in emergency departments with serious heart 
conditions, known as unstable angina or non-ST-segment elevation 
myocardial infarction (heart attack), and those undergoing procedures 
to clear clogged arteries.
  The CRUSADE program has found that many doctors and hospitals are not 
following the ACC/AHA treatment guidelines and reports significant 
under-use of other recommended therapies that can improve patient 
outcomes. CRUSADE has determined that heart patients are faring 
significantly better at hospitals that follow the guidelines. As Dr. 
Eric Peterson, the principal investigator for the CRUSADE initiative 
states, ``Our mission is to not only document non-adherence but to 
actually change the behavior of healthcare professionals and help 
patients.''
  Historically, national efforts to prevent heart attacks have focused 
on the 600,000 acute myocardial infarction patients--and over time 
these initiatives have made a tremendous impact in decreasing mortality 
rates for patients around the country. I would like to urge the 
agencies at Department of Health and Human Services that are 
responsible for research, quality, and hospital-based initiatives to 
expand our cardiovascular programs to include the early heart attack 
population that the CRUSADE program seeks to assist. There are 
approximately 1.4 million patients in the U.S. in this category, and 
they are at higher risk for death than the smaller number of patients 
who are treated aggressively and tracked by our current federal 
programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud that researchers at Duke University and UNC-
Chapel Hill have undertaken this important fight to save more lives 
from heart disease, and I congratulate the cardiologists and emergency 
medicine physicians across the country who are participating in this 
important program.
    




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