ESC Issues First Guidelines for Heart-Kidney Disease — SkimNews
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- The European Society of Cardiology, working with the European Renal Association, published its first guidelines dedicated to managing cardiovascular disease alongside chronic kidney disease in the European Heart Journal, presented at ESC Congress 2026.
- Task Force Chairs Kevin Damman (University Medical Centre Groningen) and William Herrington (University of Oxford) organized the recommendations into the "STAMP on CKD" framework: Screen, Triage, Address CKD Risk, Modify CVD management, and Plan health services.
- The guidelines recommend screening every CVD patient for CKD at diagnosis using blood tests (estimated glomerular filtration rate from creatinine) and urine tests (albumin-to-creatinine ratio).
- Associate Professor Damman identified RAS inhibitors and SGLT2 inhibitors alongside statin-based therapy as particularly effective early treatments for breaking the heart-kidney damage cycle.
- An estimated 100 million people across Europe have CKD, a condition the chairs said can accelerate cardiovascular disease and push patients toward cardiovascular events and dialysis much earlier in life.
- A patient version of the guidelines was developed alongside the clinical document to help patients and caregivers participate in shared decision-making with cardiology and nephrology teams.
Why it matters: For the estimated 100 million Europeans with chronic kidney disease, the guidelines give cardiology teams a concrete protocol to detect kidney dysfunction at the moment of CVD diagnosis and intervene with proven drug classes before patients progress to dialysis. By embedding kidney screening into routine cardiovascular care, the recommendations create a practical pathway for earlier, coordinated treatment across two specialties.
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