Classes of recommendations
| Classes of recommendations | Definition | Suggested wording to use |
|---|---|---|
| Class I | Evidence and/or general agreement that a given treatment or procedure is beneficial, useful, effective. | Is recommended/is indicated |
| Class II | Conflicting evidence and/or a divergence of opinion about the usefulness/efficacy of the given treatment or procedure. | |
| Class IIa | Weight of evidence/opinion is in favour of usefulness/efficacy. | Should be considered |
| Class IIb | Usefulness/efficacy is less well established by evidence/opinion. | May be considered |
| Class III | Evidence or general agreement that the given treatment or procedure is not useful/effective, and in some cases may be harmful. | Is not recommended |
Classes of recommendations, as currently proposed by the European Society of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. The colour coding was used throughout the executive summary and all individual subtopic manuscripts of the ‘Expert Consensus Statements on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Paediatric Pulmonary Hypertension—The European Paediatric Pulmonary Vascular Disease Network’.