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

Aims: To estimate sick leave (SL) duration after first-time elective open-heart surgery and identify factors contributing to increased SL.

Methods and results: A retrospective nationwide cohort study combined data from the Norwegian Register for Cardiac Surgery and SL data from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administrations. All able-bodied adults who underwent first-time elective open-heart surgery in Norway between 2012 and 2021 were followed until 1 year after surgery. The impact of socio-demographic and clinical factors on SL after surgery was analysed using logistic regression and odds ratios. Of 5456 patients, 1643 (30.1%), 1798 (33.0%), 971 (17.8%), 1035 (18.9%), and 9 (0.2%) had SL of <3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12 months, and 1 year, respectively. SL >6 months was associated with female gender, primary education only, and average annual income. Post-operative stroke, post-operative renal failure, New York Heart Association Functional Classification system (NYHA) score >3, earlier myocardial infarction, and diabetes mellitus increased the odds of SL >6 months.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that socio-demographic and clinical factors impact SL after first-time elective open-heart surgery. Patients who experience a stroke or develop renal failure after surgery have the highest odds of SL >6 months. Females and patients with low education levels, earlier myocardial infarction, or NYHA scores III-IV have a two-fold chance of SL >6 months. The findings allow for future investigations of pre- and post-surgery interventions that can most effectively reduce SL and aid return to work.

Aims: Update data regarding the atrial fibrillation (AF)-related mortality trend in Europe remain scant. We assess the age- and sex-specific trends in AF-related mortality in the European states between the years 2008 and 2019.

Methods and results: Data on cause-specific deaths and population numbers by sex for European countries were retrieved through the publicly available World Health Organization mortality dataset for the years 2008-2019. Atrial fibrillation-related deaths were ascertained when the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision code I48 was listed as the underlying cause of death in the medical death certificate. To calculate annual trends, we assessed the average annual % change (AAPC) with relative 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using Joinpoint regression. During the study period, 773 750 AF-related deaths (202 552 males and 571 198 females) occurred in Europe. The age-adjusted mortality rate (AAMR) linearly increased from 12.3 (95% CI: 11.2-12.9) per 100 000 population in 2008 to 15.3 (95% CI: 14.7-15.7) per 100 000 population in 2019 [AAPC: +2.0% (95% CI: 1.6-3.5), P < 0.001] with a more pronounced increase among men [AAPC: +2.7% (95% CI: 1.9-3.5), P < 0.001] compared with women [AAPC: +1.7% (95% CI: 1.1-2.3), P < 0.001] (P for parallelism 0.01). Higher AAMR increases were observed in some Eastern European countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, while the lower increases were mainly clustered in Central Europe.

Conclusion: Over the last decade, the age-adjusted AF-related mortality has increased in Europe, especially among males. Disparities still exist between Western and Eastern European countries.

Background and aims: The healthcare burden of acute chest pain is enormous. In the randomized ARTICA trial, we showed that pre-hospital identification of low-risk patients and rule-out of non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) with point-of-care (POC) troponin measurement reduces 30-day healthcare costs with low major adverse cardiac events (MACE) incidence. Here we present the final 1-year results of the ARTICA trial.

Methods: Low-risk patients with suspected NSTE-ACS were randomized to pre-hospital rule-out with POC troponin measurement or emergency department (ED) transfer. Primary 1-year outcome was healthcare costs. Secondary outcomes were safety, quality of life (QoL), and cost-effectiveness. Safety was defined as a 1-year MACE consisting of ACS, unplanned revascularization, or all-cause death. QoL was measured with EuroQol-5D-5L questionnaires. Cost-effectiveness was defined as 1-year healthcare costs difference per QoL difference.

Results: Follow-up was completed for all 863 patients. Healthcare costs were significantly lower in the pre-hospital strategy (€1932 ± €2784 vs. €2649 ± €2750), mean difference €717 [95% confidence interval (CI) €347 to €1087; P < 0.001]. In the total population, the 1-year MACE rate was comparable between groups [5.1% (22/434) in the pre-hospital strategy vs. 4.2% (18/429) in the ED strategy; P = 0.54]. In the ruled-out ACS population, 1-year MACE remained low [1.7% (7/419) vs. 1.4% (6/417)], risk difference 0.2% (95% CI -1.4% to 1.9%; P = 0.79). QoL showed no significant difference between strategies.

Conclusions: Pre-hospital rule-out of NSTE-ACS with POC troponin testing in low-risk patients is cost-effective, as expressed by a sustainable healthcare cost reduction and no significant effect on QoL. One-year MACE remained low for both strategies.

Background: Dual antiplatelet therapy with P2Y12 inhibitors (P2Y12i) and aspirin following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) prevents future ischaemic events. People with atrial fibrillation (AF) also require oral anticoagulants (OAC), increasing bleeding risk. Guidelines recommend post-discharge prescribing of direct OAC with clopidogrel and discontinuation of P2Y12i after 12 months, but little is known about use in clinical practice.

Aim: To describe post-discharge use of OACs and P2Y12i in people with AF and a history of OAC use hospitalised for AMI.

Methods and results: We identified 1,330 people hospitalised for AMI with a diagnosis of AF and history of OAC use in New South Wales, Australia, July 2018-June 2020. We identified three aspects of post-discharge antithrombotic medicine use with possible safety implications: (1) not being dispensed OACs; (2) dispensing OAC and P2Y12i combinations associated with increased bleeding (involving warfarin, ticagrelor or prasugrel); and (3) P2Y12i use longer than 12 months.After discharge, 74.3% of people were dispensed an OAC, 45.4% were dispensed a P2Y12i, and 35.8% were dispensed both. People with comorbid heart failure or cancer were less likely to receive OACs. Only 11.2% of people dispensed both an OAC and P2Y12i received combinations associated with increased bleeding; this was more common among people with chronic kidney disease or prior warfarin or statin use. 44.6% of people dispensed both medicines continued P2Y12i for over 12 months; this was more common in people who received a revascularisation or lived in areas of social disadvantage.

Conclusion: We identified potential gaps in pharmacotherapy, including underuse of recommended therapies at discharge, use of combinations associated with increased bleeding, and P2Y12i use beyond 12 months. Prescribing vigilance across both hospital and community care is required.

Background and aims: The Semaglutide Effects on Cardiovascular Outcomes in People with Overweight or Obesity (SELECT) trial demonstrated significant reductions in cardiovascular outcomes in people with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and overweight or obesity (but without diabetes). However, the cost of the medication has raised concerns about its financial viability and accessibility within healthcare systems. This study explored whether use of semaglutide for the secondary prevention of CVD in overweight or obesity is cost-effective from the Australian healthcare perspective.

Methods: A Markov model was developed based on the SELECT trial to model the clinical outcomes and costs of a hypothetical population treated with semaglutide versus placebo, in addition to standard care, and followed up over 20 years. With each annual cycle, subjects were at risk of having non-fatal CVD events or dying. Model inputs were derived from SELECT and published literature. Costs were obtained from Australian sources. All outcomes were discounted by 5% annually. The main outcome of interest was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) in terms of cost per year of life saved (YoLS) and cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained.

Results: With an annual estimated cost of semaglutide of A${$}$4175, the model resulted in ICERs of A${$}$99 853 (US${$}$143 504; £40 873) per YoLS and A${$}$96 055 (US${$}$138 046; £39 318) per QALY gained.

Conclusions: Assuming a willingness-to-pay threshold of A${$}$50 000, semaglutide is not considered cost-effective at the current price. A price of ≤ A${$}$2000 per year or more targeted use in high-risk patients would be needed for it to be considered cost-effective in the Australian setting.

Background: Major emergency abdominal surgery is associated with postoperative complications and high mortality. Long-term outcomes in patients with perioperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) have recently received increased attention, especially POAF in non-thoracic surgery.

Purpose: This study aimed to compare long-term AF related hospitalization and stroke in patients with POAF in relation to major emergency abdominal surgery and in patients with non-perioperative AF.

Methods: We crosslinked data from Danish nationwide registries and identified all patients who underwent major emergency abdominal surgery (2000-2018) and were diagnosed with POAF, and patients who developed AF in a non-perioperative setting. Patients with POAF were matched in a 1:5 ratio on age, sex, year of AF diagnosis and oral anticoagulation (OAC) status at the beginning of follow-up with patients with non-perioperative AF. From discharge, we examined adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of stroke using multivariable Cox regression analysis.

Results: The study population comprised 1,041 (out of 42,021 who underwent major emergency abdominal surgery) patients with POAF and 5,205 patients with non-perioperative AF. The median age was 78 years [interquartile range: 71-84] for those initiated on OAC therapy and 78 years [interquartile range: 71-85] for those not initiated on OAC therapy. During the first year of follow up, POAF was associated with similar rates of stroke as non-perioperative AF (patients initiated on OAC: HR 0.96 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52-1.77) and patients not initiated on OAC: HR 0.69 (95% CI 0.41-1.15).

Conclusion: POAF in relation to major emergency abdominal surgery was associated with similar rates of stroke as non-perioperative AF. These results suggest that POAF not only carry an acute burden but also a long-term burden in patients undergoing major emergency abdominal surgery.

Aims: We aimed to investigate temporal trends in all-cause mortality, heart failure (HF) hospitalisation, and stroke from 1997 to 2018 in patients diagnosed with both HF and atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods and results: From Danish nationwide registers, we identified 152 059 patients with new-onset HF between 1997 and 2018. Patients were grouped according to year of new-onset HF and AF-status: Prevalent AF (n = 34 734), New-onset AF (n = 12 691), and No AF (n = 104 634). Median age decreased from 76 to 73 years between 1997 and 2018. The proportion of patients with prevalent or new-onset AF increased from 24.7% (n = 9256) to 35.8% (n = 14 970). Five-year risk of all-cause mortality went from 69.1% (CI: 67.9%-70.2%) to 51.3% (CI: 49.9%-52.7%), 62.3% (CI: 60.5%-64.4%) to 43.0% (CI: 40.5%-45.5%), and 61.9% (CI: 61.3%-62.4%) to 36.7% (CI: 35.9%-37.6%) for the Prevalent AF, New-onset AF and No AF-group, respectively. Minimal changes were observed in the risk of HF-hospitalisation. Five-year stroke risk decreased from 8.5% (CI: 7.8%-9.1%) to 5.0% (CI: 4.4%-5.5%) for the prevalent AF group, 8.2% (CI: 7.2%-9.2%) to 4.6% (CI: 3.7%-5.5%) for new-onset AF, and 6.3% (CI: 6.1%-6.6%) to 4.9% (CI: 4.6%-5.3%) for the No AF group. Simultaneously, anticoagulant therapy increased for patients with prevalent (from 42.7% to 93.1%) and new-onset AF (from 41.9% to 92.5%).

Conclusion: From 1997 to 2018, we observed an increase in patients with HF and co-existing AF. Mortality decreased for all patients, regardless of AF-status. Anticoagulation therapy increased, and stroke risk for patients with AF was reduced to a similar level as patients without AF in 2013-2018.

Background: Demand for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has increased in the last decade, resulting in prolonged wait-times and undesirable health outcomes in many health systems. Risk-based prioritization and wait-times benchmarks can improve equitable access to patients.

Methods: We used simulation models to follow-up a synthetic population of 50,000 individuals from referral to completion of TAVI. Based on their risk of adverse events, patients could be classified as "low-", "medium-" and "high-risk", and shorter wait-times were assigned for the higher risk groups. We assessed the impacts of the size and wait-times for each risk group on waitlist mortality, hospitalization and urgent TAVIs. All scenarios had the same resource constraints, allowing us to explore the trade-offs between faster access for prioritized patients and deferred access for non-prioritized groups.

Results: Increasing the proportion of patients categorized as high-risk, and providing more rapid access to the higher-risk groups achieved the greatest reductions in mortality, hospitalizations and urgent TAVIs (relative reductions of up to 29%, 23% and 38%, respectively). However, this occurs at the expense of excessive wait-times in the non-prioritized low-risk group (up to 25 weeks). We propose wait-times of up to 3 weeks for high-risk patients and 7 weeks for medium-risk patients.

Conclusions: Prioritizing higher-risk patients with faster access leads to better health outcomes, however this also results in unacceptably long wait-times for the non-prioritized groups in settings with limited capacity. Decision-makers must be aware of these implications when developing and implementing waitlist prioritization strategies.