Dismissal of Professor Don Poldermans from the Erasmus Medical Center (NL)

Prof Poldermans resigned last week from the ESC Committee for Practice Guidelines.

The ESC Committee for Practice Guidelines is looking into the “Guidelines for preoperative cardiac risk assessment and preoperative cardiac management in non-cardiac surgery"2, which Prof Poldermans contributed to as a Chairperson of the Task Force, in order to decide if these need to be re-examined in the light of recent events. A new statement will be issued by the ESC once a decision has been reached.

The ESC stated that “ESC Guidelines are based on the contributions of many European experts and on available evidence based medicine, including many studies from different nations. They are, therefore, the result of a group discussion and not of an individual position.  We are saddened by Prof Poldermans’ situation and, although we are confident that our Guidelines are supported by reliable data, we are carefully looking into the Guidelines for Pre-operative Cardiac Risk Assessment. Supplying the best possible guidance to physicians in order to improve medical practice and ensure patients receive the best treatment, is our main objective and we will continue to work towards this goal.”