Critical Pathways in Cardiology最新文献

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been established as the treatment of choice for severe aortic stenosis in high-risk patients as well as patients above 75 years old in all risk spectrums. Despite its worldwide adoption, implementation in lower-middle-income countries such as the Brazilian public health system (SUS, acronym in Portuguese) is incipient.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate TAVI exclusively within SUS patients.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study in a public tertiary hospital in southern Brazil. All patients who underwent TAVI between 2018 and 2024 were included. The cohort was divided into 2 temporal periods: from July 2018 to December 2022 (n = 60) and January 2023 to October 2024 (n = 65). The clinical and procedural characteristics and in-hospital, as well as 1 year of outcomes, were evaluated according to Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 (VARC-2) criteria.

Results: During the study period, 125 patients underwent TAVI. The average age was 80 years (± 10), and 49.6% were male. The mean aortic valve area was 0.76 cm² and the mean gradient was 45 (±13) mm Hg. The mean STS predicted risk of mortality (STS-PROM) score was 4.6% (±3.6). Device success was achieved in 119 patients (95.2%). In-hospital mortality was 2 (1.6%). A new permanent pacemaker was required in 16 (12.8%). Demographic and clinical characteristics between the first and the second periods were similar.

Conclusions: The mortality and complications rate of TAVI performed within the scope of the Brazilian public health system were consistent with the clinical experience of other international registries.

Population-based studies of cardiovascular disease markers, such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), are crucial. However, studies exploring the effect of metabolic indices on hs-CRP while controlling for confounding variables adequately in middle-aged adults are limited. Using Wave 5 public-use biomarkers data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we examined the impact of various metabolic indices on hs-CRP in adults aged 32-42, controlling for eight allergic and infectious factors that may elevate hs-CRP levels. We used multiple linear regression analysis to determine which factors predict hs-CRP levels after the log transformation of the dependent variable. The total number of participants was N = 1839 (weighted N = 1,390,763), with a mean age of 38.1 (SD = 2.0) and 46.4% having obesity. Among the controlled variables, recent surgery was the only confounder to significantly predict increased hs-CRP levels [ P = 0.029; exponentiated estimate (EE) = 1.61; 95% confidence interval (Cl), 1.31-1.91]. Notably, current smoking and altered low-density lipoprotein levels did not show a significant association with hs-CRP levels ( P > 0.05). However, a significant increase in hs-CRP levels was observed in females compared with males ( P < 0.001; EE = 1.43; 95% Cl, 1.35-1.51). Similar findings were noted for diabetic HbA1c levels ( P = 0.001; EE = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.42-1.78), high waist circumference ( P = 0.015; EE = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.15-1.35), and stage 3 obesity ( P = 0.006; EE = 7.62; 95% CI, 2.86-12.38). Although not statistically significant, hs-CRP levels exhibited a gradual increase with rising body mass index after controlling for other variables. These findings will improve the clinical application of hs-CRP in predicting coronary artery disease, especially in younger adults.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequently recorded arrhythmia in clinical practice, and its appearance conditions high risk of morbidity and mortality. The role of the interatrial block (IAB) as a predictor pathway of the development of AF in the postoperative period of patients undergoing cardiac surgery has been studied scantly.

Methods: Partial IAB was defined as the P wave >120 ms and advanced IAB as the P wave >120 ms with biphasic morphology in inferior leads. The presurgical electrocardiography was analyzed, and the frequency of AF onset in the postoperative period was determined. A comparative analysis was performed between the patients who presented AF and those who did not.

Results: A total of 94 patients were included, with a mean age of 61 ± 16 years. Of the total number of patients, 42 (45%) presented some degree of IAB (partial 42.8% and advanced 57.1%). There was a significant relationship between patients with IAB and those who developed AF postcardiac surgery (21.3%; P < 0.01). The presence of IAB had an area under the curve of 0.75 (95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.85) and demonstrated a specificity of 69%, a sensitivity of 83%, and a negative predictive value of 92% for predicting AF development.

Conclusions: IAB has a relatively frequent incidence in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. There was a significant association between the presence of IAB and the development of AF in the postoperative period. Our findings establish for the first time that IAB has high specificity, sensitivity, and negative predictive value for predicting AF development postcardiac surgery.

The performance of nonphysician-led exercise stress testing with and without echocardiography has shown similar diagnostic utility and safety as physician-led models. While diagnostic accuracy and relative safety have been the focus of previous research, the current study aims to demonstrate efficiencies not previously reported, such as reduction in wait times for testing and improved service attendance. A nonphysician-led exercise stress echocardiography service was implemented on January 01, 2018; before this, all tests were performed under a physician-led model. Retrospective data was retrieved from both models (physician-led model from January 01, 2015 to December 31, 2017 and the nonphysician-led model from January 01, 2018 to December 31, 2023). Comparisons were made between the models regarding the number of tests performed, the average wait time to access testing, and the did not attend (DNA) rates. On average, 212 tests were performed in the physician-led model per year, with average wait times to access testing of 11.3 weeks and a DNA rate of 15.3%. In contrast, the nonphysician-led model performed on average 501 tests per year (135% increase) ( P < 0.001) with average wait times of 6 weeks (47% decrease) ( P < 0.01) and DNA rate of 4.8% (69% decrease). Despite the physician-led group displaying an overall higher cardiovascular disease risk, there were no adverse cardiovascular events at the time of testing in either model. Nonphysician-led exercise stress echocardiography remains as safe as physician-led models but demonstrates service improvements, including significant reductions in wait times and lower DNA rates.

Introduction: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a progressive, systemic atherosclerotic disease that is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and critical limb ischemia (CLI). CLI represents the most severe stage of PAD, characterized by progressive endothelial dysfunction and arterial narrowing. We hypothesized that the incidence of CLI and PAD would increase over the study period and that the rates of in-hospital mortality and major amputations among patients admitted with CLI would rise correspondingly.

Methods: We utilized the National Inpatient Sample database from 2016 to 2021 using the International Classification of Disease, Tenth Edition, Clinical Modification codes. Patients with primary or secondary diagnoses of PAD were initially selected, and subsequently hospitalization with CLI was appropriately identified. The Cochran Armitage test was used to describe the trend of outcomes across the years. All statistical analyses were conducted using the software Stata version 17.0.

Results: From 2016 to 2021, there were 2,930,639 admissions for CLI. Up to 65% of these patients were over the age of 60, and 35.8% of these patients were women. Most of these individuals were white (64.7%), followed by African Americans (15.8%) and Hispanics (12.6%). In-hospital mortality rates varied by revascularization method, with hybrid revascularization showing the highest rate at 2.6%, followed by endovascular revascularization at 1.8%, and surgical revascularization at 1.6%. Additionally, hospitalization costs were highest for patients undergoing hybrid revascularization ($46,257 ± $36,417), compared with endovascular ($36,924 ± $27,945) and surgical revascularization ($35,672 ± $27,127). Endovascular revascularization rates seemed to increase while surgical revascularization rates decreased during this time period.

Conclusions: PAD is a progressive, systemic atherosclerotic disease that is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and CLI. Our data showed that the rates of PAD and CLI hospitalizations have remained relatively stable from 2016 to 2021, but there seems to be a trend toward doing more revascularization via an endovascular approach as compared to a surgical approach.

Background: Hyperlipidemia (HLD) is a major contributor to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Nearly 30% of Emergency Department (ED) patients with chest pain have undiagnosed and/or unmanaged HLD, putting them at an increased risk of ASCVD. Although safe and effective HLD treatments exist, the ED traditionally focuses on acute care and does not offer preventive cardiovascular care services. This represents a large, missed opportunity to improve cardiovascular health for the millions of Americans evaluated in the ED each year who are not receiving appropriate preventive care in the outpatient setting. The goals of this study are to determine the efficacy of novel ED-initiated preventive care on lowering cholesterol while also informing our understanding of patient adherence and implementation determinants of ED-initiated preventive cardiovascular care.

Methods: We will use a randomized, controlled, parallel group trial of 130 ED patients being evaluated for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) at a single site. Participants will be 40-75 years old with prior ASCVD, known diabetes, or 10-year ASCVD risk ≥7.5% who are not already receiving guideline-directed outpatient preventive care. Patients will be randomized with equal probability to EMERALD (Emergency Medicine Cardiovascular Risk Assessment for Lipid Disorders) or usual care. Patients in the EMERALD arm will be started on a statin and referred for 30-day follow-up with cardiology or primary care, depending on 10-year ASCVD risk level. Usual care arm patients will not be prescribed a statin in the ED and will be asked to follow-up with a primary care provider. The primary outcome will be percent change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) at 30-days. Secondary outcomes include percent change in LDL-C at 180-days and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) at 30- and 180-days, the proportion of EMERALD patients who pick up their statin, and the proportion of patients who attend 30-day outpatient follow-up. We will also use mixed methods and semi-structured interviews to identify patient adherence facilitators and barriers as well as implementation determinants for Emergency Medicine providers.

Discussion: This is the first study to evaluate a novel, protocolized ED-initiated preventive cardiovascular care approach for HLD. If successful, the EMERALD intervention may be able to improve the cardiovascular health for at-risk patients and serve as a use case for other modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as diabetes, hypertension, tobacco use, and obesity. This single site study will inform a planned multisite trial.

Introduction: Coronary perforation is one of the major complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The goal of this study was to evaluate adverse outcomes and mortality in patients suffering from coronary perforation during PCI above the age of 30.

Methods: The National Inpatient Sample database, years 2016-2020, was studied using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes. Patients suffering from perforation were compared with patients without perforation during PCI.

Results: PCI was performed in a weighted total of 10,059,269 patients. Coronary perforation occurred in 11,725 (0.12%) of all PCI performed. The mortality rate of patients with perforations was very high in comparison to patients without perforations. (12.9% vs. 2.5%, odds ratio, 5.6; CI, 5-6.3; P < 0.001). Furthermore, patients with coronary perforations had much higher rates of urgent coronary bypass surgery, tamponade, cardiac arrest, and major cardiovascular outcomes. Mortality remained high and over 10% in the 5-year study period.

Conclusions: Using a large national inpatient database, all-cause inpatient mortality in patients with coronary perforation is very high (over 10%), with persistently high mortality rates over the years, suggesting that treatment of perforations needs further improvement.

Background: Patients with long coronary lesions undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) have higher rates of adverse clinical events. Both stent length and stent overlap are associated with worse outcomes; however, data comparing very long stent (VLS) to overlapping stents (OSs) are limited, particularly during pPCI. This study aimed to compare the impact of a single VLS versus ≥2 OSs on clinical outcomes in a multicenter registry of patients undergoing pPCI.

Methods: This study included patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who underwent pPCI using a single VLS (≥38 mm) or ≥2 OS (total stent length, ≥38 mm) in the culprit lesion. After propensity score matching based on tortuosity, calcification, Killip class, culprit lesion length ≥40 mm, and culprit vessel, the final cohort for analysis was selected. The primary endpoint was a combination of mortality and target lesion failure (reinfarction, stent thrombosis, or new revascularization) at 2 years.

Results: Among 647 consecutive STEMI patients who underwent pPCI between March 2016 and September 2022, 353 received VLS and 294 received OSs. After propensity score matching, 264 patients remained (132 in each group). The occurrence of the primary outcome (VLS: 12.9 vs. OS: 15.9%; P = 0.86), all-cause mortality (VLS: 7.6 vs. OS: 9.8%; P = 0.51), and target lesion failure (VLS: 8.3 vs. OS: 6.8, P = 0.64) were similar between the 2 groups.

Conclusions: In this cohort of real-world patients with STEMI undergoing pPCI, we found no significant difference in outcomes between VLS and OSs. Both strategies are reasonable treatment options for STEMI patients.

Background: Use of high-sensitivity troponin (hs-cTn) might lead to an increase in hospital observation visits due to a higher number of abnormal troponin levels.

Study objectives: To determine the impact of incorporating hs-cTn into a chest pain clinical decision protocol (CDP) on observation visits in a large academic health system.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational cohort study of all chest pain observation patients in 4 hospitals in an academic health system over 24 months. All hospitals used the Beckman Coulter Unicel Dxi instrument, and all shared the same emergency department (ED) chest pain protocol, which used the HEART pathway and serial troponins and directed ED dispositions to either an observation stay, ED discharge, or inpatient admission. Outcomes studied before and after the introduction of an hs-cTn protocol included daily chest pain observation census, cost, observation hours, and inpatient admit rate. Census was reported as the daily chest pain observation census and as a proportion of all observation visits. Data were retrieved from a health system data warehouse and a cost accounting program.

Results: There were 6712 chest pain observation visits over 24 months, with 4087 visits before and 2634 visits after the hs-cTn protocol implementation. Comparison groups were similar in terms of age, gender, and type of insurance. There were 10.59 (95% CI, 10.24-10.95) daily chest pain observation visits before and 7.66 (95% CI, 7.34-7.97) visits after implementation, with a 28% (95% CI, 35%-20%) decrease in the total daily census. As a portion of all observation visits, there was a 22% drop in the proportion that were observed for chest pain. The daily number of chest pain patients requiring inpatient admission was unchanged. The daily total direct cost for chest pain observation decreased with an effective daily cost savings of $4313 USD (95% CI, $1534-$6998). The total daily number of chest pain observation bed hours also decreased by 41.5 hours (95% CI, 13.4-96.4 hours).

Conclusions: Implementation of a hs-cTn chest pain protocol was associated with a significant decrease in the number and proportion of observation visits, a decrease in total daily cost and bed hours used, and no increase in inpatient admissions.

Background and objective: The HEART pathway serves as a tool for predicting major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among patients presenting with acute chest pain, aiding in the early discharge of low-risk patients and reducing unnecessary cardiac investigations. This study aimed to evaluate physician-nurse reliability of the HEART pathway and investigate the efficacy of HEART pathway to predict 3-month MACE in patients with acute chest pain.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study on 97 patients experiencing acute chest pain. A team of 3 professionals, a nurse, a cardiology resident, and a cardiology attending physician, performed risk stratification. We assessed interrater reliability among the raters as well as explored 3-month MACE outcomes.

Results: Excellent pairwise agreements were found between the raters. Overall agreement among raters was excellent, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.84 (95% confidence interval: 0.73-0.97). The HEART pathway score exhibited strong predictive power (area under curve: 0.85) for 3-month MACE. At a cutoff score of 4, sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive values were 87.5%, 58.9%, and 95.8%, respectively.

Conclusions: The HEART pathway score effectively predicts 3-month MACE in patients with acute nontraumatic chest pain. Moreover, the high agreement among the attending physician, the resident physician, and the nurse suggests that nurses could use this tool, potentially reducing the workload on physicians.