Netherlands Heart Journal最新文献

Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) are vital for medical progress. Unfortunately, 'traditional' RCTs are expensive and inherently slow. Moreover, their generalisability has been questioned. There is considerable overlap in routine health care data (RHCD) and trial-specific data. Therefore, integration of RHCD in an RCT has great potential, as it would reduce the effort and costs required to collect data, thereby overcoming some of the major downsides of a traditional RCT. However, use of RHCD comes with other challenges, such as privacy issues, as well as technical and practical barriers. Here, we give a current overview of related initiatives on national cardiovascular registries (Netherlands Heart Registration, Heart4Data), showcasing the interrelationships between and the relevance of the different registries for the practicing physician. We then discuss the benefits and limitations of RHCD use in the setting of a pragmatic RCT from a cardiovascular perspective, illustrated by a case study in heart failure.

Background: Guidelines recommend routine transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) after ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack of undetermined cause; yet, only limited scientific evidence exists. Therefore, we aimed to determine in these patients the prevalence of TTE-detected major cardiac sources of embolism (CSE), which are abnormalities leading to therapeutic changes.

Methods: Six Dutch hospitals conducted a prospective observational study that enrolled patients with ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack of undetermined cause. Patients underwent TTE after comprehensive diagnostic evaluation on stroke units, including blood chemistry, 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), ≥ 24 h continuous ECG monitoring, brain imaging and cervical artery imaging. Primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients with TTE-detected major CSE.

Results: From March 2018 to October 2020, 1084 patients, aged 66.6 ± 12.5 years, were enrolled; 456 (42.1%) patients were female and 869 (80.2%) had ischaemic stroke. TTE detected major CSE in only 11 (1.0%) patients. Ten (90.9%) of these patients also had major ECG abnormalities (previous infarction, major repolarisation abnormalities, or previously unknown left bundle branch block) that would have warranted TTE assessment regardless of stroke evaluation. Such ECG abnormalities were present in 11.1% of the total study population. A single patient (0.1%) showed a major CSE despite having no ECG abnormality.

Conclusions: This multicentre cross-sectional study in patients who-after workup on contemporary stroke units-were diagnosed with ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack of undetermined cause found TTE-detected major CSE in only 1% of all patients. Most of these patients also had major ECG abnormalities. These findings question the value of routine TTE assessment in this clinical setting.

Objective: We describe the current treatment of elderly patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) enrolled in a national registry.

Methods: The POPular AGE registry is a prospective, multicentre study of patients ≥ 75 years of age presenting with NSTEMI, performed in the Netherlands. Management was at the discretion of the treating physician. Cardiovascular events consisted of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke. Bleeding was classified according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) criteria.

Results: A total of 646 patients were enrolled between August 2016 and May 2018. Median age was 81 (IQR 77-84) years and 58% were male. Overall, 75% underwent coronary angiography, 40% percutaneous coronary intervention, and 11% coronary artery bypass grafting, while 49.8% received pharmacological therapy only. At discharge, dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin and P2Y₁₂ inhibitor) was prescribed to 56.7%, and 27.4% received oral anticoagulation plus at least one antiplatelet agent. At 1‑year follow-up, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction or stroke had occurred in 13.6% and major bleeding (BARC 3 and 5) in 3.9% of patients. The risk of both cardiovascular events and major bleeding was highest during the 1st month. However, cardiovascular risk was three times as high as bleeding risk in this elderly population, both after 1 month and after 1 year.

Conclusions: In this national registry of elderly patients with NSTEMI, the majority are treated according to current European Society of Cardiology guidelines. Both the cardiovascular and bleeding risk are highest during the 1st month after NSTEMI. However, the cardiovascular risk was three times as high as the bleeding risk.

Objective: Cardiovascular disease and frailty are common among the population aged 85+. We hypothesised these patients might benefit from geriatric co-management, as has been shown in other frail patient populations. However, there is limited evidence supporting geriatric co-management in older, hospitalised cardiology patients.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in a large teaching hospital in the Netherlands. We compared patients aged 85 and over admitted to the cardiology ward before (control group) and after the implementation of standard geriatric co-management (intervention group). Data on readmission, mortality, length of stay, number of consultations, delirium, and falls were analysed.

Results: The data of 1163 patients were analysed (n = 542 control, n = 621 intervention). In the intervention group, 251 patients did not receive the intervention because of logistic reasons or the treating physician's decision. Baseline characteristics were comparable in the intervention and control groups. Patients in the intervention group had a shorter length of stay (-1 day, p = 0.01) and were more often discharged to a geriatric rehabilitation facility (odds ratio [OR] 1.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10-3.54, p = 0.02) compared with the control patients. Other outcomes were not significantly different between the groups.

Conclusions: After implementation of standard geriatric co-management for hospitalised cardiology patients aged 85 and over, the length of hospital stay shortened and the number of patients discharged to a geriatric rehabilitation facility increased. The adherence to geriatric team recommendations was high. Geriatric co-management would appear to optimise care for older hospitalised patients with cardiac disease.