European Heart Journal - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes最新文献

Background: Most patients undergoing coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD) are referred from general practitioners (GPs). The burden of contacts to GP in relation to investigation of suspected CAD is unknown.

Methods and results: All patients undergoing CCTA in Western Denmark from 2014 to 2022 were included. CCTA stenosis was defined as diameter stenosis of ≥50%. Patients with and without stenosis were matched, in each group, 1:5 to a reference population based on birth year, gender, and municipality using data from national registries. All GP visits were registered up to 5 years preceding and 1 year after the CTA and stratified by gender and age. Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was calculated in all groups.Of the 62 512 patients included, 12 886 had a stenosis, while 49 626 did not. Patients in both groups had a substantially higher GP visit frequency compared with reference populations. In the year of coronary CTA, the median GP contacts in patients with stenosis were 11 (6-17) vs. 6 (2-11) in the reference population (P < 0.001), and in patients without stenosis, the median GP contacts were 10 (6-17) vs. 5 (2-11) (P < 0.001). These findings were consistent across age and gender. CCI was higher among both patients with and without stenosis compared with reference groups.

Conclusion: In patients undergoing CCTA to diagnose CAD, a substantially increased frequency of contacts to GP was observed in the 5-year period prior to examination compared with the reference populations, regardless of the CCTA findings. Obtaining the CCTA result did not seem to substantially affect the GP visit frequency.

Aims: To evaluate the global cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden attributable to metabolic risks in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021.

Methods and results: Following the methodologies used in the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, this study analyzed CVD deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributable to metabolic risks by location, age, sex, and socio-demographic index (SDI). In 2021, metabolic risks accounted for 13.59 million CVD deaths (95% UI 12.01 to 15.13) and 287.17 million CVD DALYs (95% UI 254.92 to 316.32) globally, marking increases of 63.3% and 55.5% since 1990, respectively. Despite these increases, age-standardised mortality and DALY rates have significantly declined. The highest age-standardised rates of metabolic risks-attributable CVD mortality and DALYs were observed in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, while the lowest rates were found in High-income Asia Pacific, Australasia, and Western Europe, all of which are high SDI regions. Among the metabolic risks, high systolic blood pressure emerged as the predominant factor, contributing to the highest numbers of CVD deaths [10.38 million (95% UI 8.78 to 12.03)] and DALYs [14.52 million (95% UI 180.42 to 247.57)] in 2021, followed by high LDL cholesterol.

Conclusion: Our study highlights the persistent and significant impact of metabolic risks on the global CVD burden from 1990 to 2021, emphasizing the need of designing public health strategies that align with regional healthcare capacities and demographic differences to effectively reduce these effects through enhanced international collaboration and specific policies.

Background: Renal-artery stenosis can be associated with difficult to control hypertension, although renal-artery stenting has not been shown to improve clinical outcomes. Alternative antihypertensive medications could potentially result in quality of life benefits with renal-artery stenting.

Methods: We performed a pre-specified quality of life sub-study of the CORAL trial-multicenter, randomized, open-label trial of renal-artery stenting versus medical therapy in patients with atherosclerotic renal-artery stenosis. Longitudinal growth curve models were used to compare the Physical Symptoms Distress Index (PSDI), SF-36, and EQ-5D scores over time between treatment groups. We also sought to validate the approach of assessing quality of life in hypertension studies.

Results: Among 906 patients (mean age 69.2 ± 9.1years, 49.7% men), symptom frequency and distress due to side effects from antihypertensive medications changed minimally over time, with no significant differences between treatment groups. There were also no clinically significant differences between treatment groups for the SF-36 and its subscales or the EQ-5D. In internal validation of the quality of life measures, the PSDI correlated well with number/type of antihypertensive medications, and generic health status measures correlated with late clinical events.

Conclusions: In a large, multicenter, randomized clinical trial, we found no significant benefit of routine renal-artery stenting over medical management for the treatment of atherosclerotic renal-artery stenosis in terms of disease-specific or generic quality of life measures. As these quality of life measures are important to patients and are associated with medication compliance, future studies of antihypertensive treatments should consider including these quality of life measures as secondary outcomes. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00081731.

Aims: To assess the risk of anaemia among low-dose aspirin (LDA) exposure in Danish older individuals in a real-world setting.

Methods: Population based-cohort study conducted using Danish registers. The study population included older individuals (≥65 years) exposed to LDA between 2008 and 2013 for primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular events. Over a five-year follow-up, outcomes included anaemia incidence based on haemoglobin values and hematinic deficiency incidence based on antianemic prescriptions.

Results: Among the 313 508 individuals included in the study population, those exposed to LDA (n = 59 869, 19.1%) had an incidence of hematinic deficiency determined by the use of antianemic treatment of 9.6%, with an incidence rate ratio of 9.11 (95% Confidence Interval, CI: 8.81-9.41) when compared to non-users of LDA (n = 253 639, 80.9%), who had an incidence of 3.7%. Anaemia determined by haemoglobin value measurements was observed in 5.9% of those exposed to LDA, with an incidence rate ratio of 7.89 (95% CI: 7.58-8.21) when compared to non-users of LDA. Approximately one in five individuals (n = 2 422, 21.5%) who experienced anaemia also experienced bleeding. Severe anaemia was observed in 1.3% of those exposed to LDA compared to 0.6% of those not exposed. Among the exposed, the reduction in haemoglobin and ferritin levels was associated with the severity of anaemia.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that in a real-world setting, anaemia with LDA can occur in 6 to 10 older individuals out of every 100 LDA users during the first 5 years of treatment.

Background: Kidney dysfunction (KD) poses a severe threat to human health. The aim of this study is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the trends in cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden attributable to KD, thereby providing a theoretical basis for relevant public health policies.

Methods: This study analyzed trends in the burden of CVD attributable to KD using the 2021 Global Burden of Disease data. It also examined the differences in mortality rates across various age groups, genders, and subtypes of CVD. Additionally, the age-period-cohort model combined with joinpoint regression analysis was employed to gain further insights into the changing trends and inflection points of CVD-related mortality.

Results: In 2021, the global number of deaths from CVD attributable to KD significantly increased compared to 1990. However, the global age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) decreased in 2021. The burden of CVD due to KD was particularly heavy among the elderly. Analysis using the age-period-cohort model revealed a decline in CVD-related mortality rates, with similar trends observed for both men and women.

Conclusions: This study reveals that although the ASMR for CVD due to KD is on a declining trend globally, the absolute number of deaths has significantly increased. This trend is especially pronounced among individuals aged 80 and older, males, and regions with a middle socio-demographic index (SDI). In the context of global aging, the burden of CVD related to KD is becoming increasingly substantial.

Background: Despite evidence supporting use of fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous waves-free ratio (iFR) to improve outcome of patients undergoing coronary angiography (CA) and percutaneous coronary intervention, such techniques are still underused in clinical practice due to economic and logistic issues.

Objectives: We aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based application to compute FFR and iFR from plain CA.

Methods and results: Consecutive patients performing FFR or iFR or both were enrolled. A specific multi-task deep network exploiting 2 projections of the coronary of interest from standard CA was appraised. Accuracy of prediction of FFR/iFR of the AI model was the primary endpoint, along with sensitivity and specificity. Prediction was tested both for continuous values and for dichotomous classification (positive/negative) for FFR or iFR. Subgroup analyses were performed for FFR and iFR.A total of 389 patients from 5 centers were enrolled. Mean age was 67.9 ± 9.6 and 39.2% of patients were admitted for acute coronary syndrome. Overall, the accuracy was 87.3% (81.2-93.4%), with a sensitivity of 82.4% (71.9-96.4%) and a specificity of 92.2% (90.4-93.9%). For FFR, accuracy was 84.8% (77.8-91.8%), with a sensitivity of 81.9% (69.4-94.4%) and a specificity of 87.7% (85.5-89.9%), while for iFR accuracy was 90.2% (86.0-94.6%), with a sensitivity of 87.2% (76.6-97.8%) and a specificity of 93.2% (91.7-94.7%, all confidence intervals 95%).

Conclusion: The presented machine-learning based tool showed high accuracy in prediction of wire-based FFR and iFR.

Aims: The lack of standardised definitions for heart failure outcome measures limits the ability to reliably assess effectiveness of heart failure therapies. The European Unified Registries for Heart Care Evaluation and Randomised Trials (EuroHeart) aimed to produce a catalogue of internationally endorsed data definitions for heart failure outcome measures.

Methods: Following the EuroHeart methods for the development of cardiovascular data standards, a working group was formed of representatives from the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Association and other leading heart failure experts. A systematic review of observational and randomised clinical trials identified current outcome measures, which was supplemented by clinical practice guidelines and existing registries for contemporary definitions. A modified Delphi process was employed to gain consensus for variable inclusion and whether collection should be mandatory (Level 1) or optional (Level 2) within EuroHeart. In addition, a set of complementary outcome measures were identified by the Working Group as of scientific and clinical importance for longitudinal monitoring for people with heart failure.

Results: Five Level 1 and two Level 2 outcome measures were selected and defined, alongside five complementary monitoring outcomes for patients with heart failure.

Conclusion: We present a structured, hierarchical catalogue of internationally endorsed heart failure outcome measures. This will facilitate quality improvement, high quality observational research, registry-based trials, and post market surveillance of medical devices.

Objectives: This study aims to analyze the variation in mortality burden of aortic aneurysms (AA) and explore the associated risk factors based on Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 data, investigating the mortality burden of AA in China.

Methods: Using GBD 2019 data, the mortality burden of AA in China from 1990 to 2019 was analyzed. The age-period-cohort model was utilized to analyze time trends, period, and cohort effects of 4 attributable risk factors of AA by age.

Results: In 2019, the total number of AA deaths in China increased by 136.1% compared to 1990, while the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) decreased by 6.8%. Male deaths and ASMR were higher than those of females, and ASMR increased with age. Whether viewed overall (Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC): -0.261, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): -0.383 to -0.138) or by sex (female AAPC: -0.812, 95% CI: -0.977 to -0.646; male AAPC: -0.011, 95% CI: -0.183 to 0.162), the ASMR for AA in China has shown a declining trend since 1990. Attributable risk factors such as high blood pressure, a diet high in sodium, smoking, and lead exposure increase AA mortality with age. Smoking mortality peaks between ages 80-85. The cyclical effect of high blood pressure on AA mortality significantly increases, while the cyclical effects of the other three risk factors decrease. For the population born after 1940, the cohort effect of high systolic blood pressure (SBP), a diet high in sodium, and smoking increased, while the cohort effect of lead exposure decreased. The local drift values of high SBP, a diet high in sodium, and smoking decreased, while the local drift value of lead exposure increased. High SBP was identified as the most significant attributable risk factor for AA mortality burden among both males and females, and smoking was another major attributable risk factor, particularly in males.

Conclusion: From 1990 to 2019, fatality due to AA in China increased notably, but the ASMR showed a decreasing trend. The mortality rate of AA was influenced by age, sex, and attributable risk factors, with elderly male smokers carrying a heavy burden of death. Moreover, tobacco control and treatment of hypertension should be strengthened to reduce the burden and its impact on AA.

Background: An estimated two-thirds of heart failure (HF) patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) hospitalized in the United States have a severely reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF < 30%). Few studies have categorized patients according to their severity of left ventricular dysfunction beyond an LVEF of < 30%.

Methods: Intermountain Health patients (≥18 years), with a primary HF diagnosis, ≥1 inpatient hospitalization with a primary discharge diagnosis of HF, a documented LVEF of < 30%, and a BNP > 100 pg/mL within one year of hospitalization were studied. Patients were stratified by LVEF levels (≤15%, 16-25%, and 26-29%) and evaluated for death, HF hospitalization, healthcare resource utilization, and medical costs.

Results: Overall, 2 184 patients (mean age 64.2 ± 15.5 years, 72.5% male) were stratified by LVEF (≤15%, n = 468 [21.4%]; 16-25%, n = 1399 [64.1%]; and 26-29%, n = 317 [14.5%]). Lower LVEF was associated with younger age, male sex, and fewer comorbidities. Although one-year mortality differed significantly between LVEF stratifications, which remained after adjustment by risk factors (vs. LVEF 26-29% [referent]): ≤15%, hazard ratio (HR)=1.92, p < 0.0001; and 16-25%, HR = 1.42, p = 0.01), mortality was similar by 3-years. HF hospitalizations at 1- and 3-years were similar among LVEF groups. Total HF costs-driven by increased HF outpatient costs-were significantly higher among LVEF of ≤ 15%.

Conclusions: Patients with an LVEF of ≤ 15% had a modestly increased risk of 1-year mortality, as well as significantly higher total HF costs. Patients with HFrEF and a severely reduced LVEF continue to face an increased clinicoeconomic burden, and novel therapies to treat this unmet medical need are warranted.

Background: Mortality after heart transplantation can be influenced by multiple factors. This study analyzed its variation across 4 regions of the United States.

Objective: Analyze the differences in mortality among patients receiving a heart transplant across 4 regions of the United States.

Methods: Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)/United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) registry was analyzed for adult heart transplant recipients from 1987-2023. They were divided into 4 regions according to heart transplant recipients' residence: the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. The endpoint was all-cause mortality.

Results: A total of 33,482 heart transplant recipients were included in the analysis. Baseline characteristics differed by region. The median survival (years) was lower in the South [Northeast 12.9 (6.1-17.9), Midwest 13.1 (6.5-18.1), South 11.6 (5.3-16.8), West 13.6 (7.0-18.6); p<0.0001]. Mortality incidence rate was greater in the South. When compared to the Northeast, in the unadjusted analysis, mortality was higher in the South [HR 1.13 (95%CI 1.07-1.19), p<0.001] and lower in the West [HR 0.89 (95%CI 0.83-0.94), p<0.001]. After adjusting for demographic and clinical variables, only the South retained significant differences [HR 1.17 (95%CI 1.10-1.24), p<0.001]. Mortality significantly increased in all regions after 2018.

Conclusion: Mortality of heart transplant recipients varies across region of residence in the United States. A significant increase in adjusted mortality was observed in the South. These findings suggest that there are regional disparities in the mortality rates of heart transplant recipients.