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Psychosocial risk factors (PSRFs) are known to be associated with worse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. However, there are limited data on the impact of PSRFs on readmissions after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) before and during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic. Therefore, we aimed to examine this association and whether the effects of PSRFs were amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. We queried the 2019 and 2020 Nationwide Readmissions Database for adult (age ≥18 years) index admissions with AMI as the primary diagnosis. They were then divided into 2 cohorts based on the presence or absence of ≥1 PSRF and compared across non-COVID-19 (2019) and COVID-19 (2020) time periods. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause readmissions. Secondary outcomes included cause-specific readmissions (cardiac, noncardiac, AMI, heart failure). Multivariable hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to evaluate differences in outcomes. The study included 380,820 patients with index AMI, of which 214,384 (56%) had ≥1 PSRFs. Patients with PSRFs were younger, more likely to be female, and had a higher prevalence of CV risk factors. Of 30-day all-cause readmissions were higher in patients with PSRFs in both eras. Moreover, noncardiac and heart failure readmissions were also higher in patients with PSRFs admitted with AMI in 2019 and 2020. This study of a nationally representative population magnifies the association of PSRF with more unplanned readmissions after AMI in both pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 times., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Dr. Desai reports working under contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop and maintain performance measures used for public reporting and pay for performance programs. He reports research grants and/or consulting for Amgen, Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cytokinetics, Merck, Novartis, SCPharmaceuticals, and Vifor. All other authors have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) utilization is increasing, along with procedural success. Coronary angiography is frequently performed before the TAVR procedure for coronary artery disease workup. Chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the coronary artery shares common risk factors with aortic stenosis and could be challenging, especially in terms of procedural safety. The outcomes of TAVR among patients with concomitant CTO are not extensively studied. We analyzed the National Inpatient Sample database between October 2015 and December 2020 to evaluate the clinical characteristics, procedural safety, and outcomes among patients who underwent TAVR who had concomitant CTO lesions. A total of 304,330 TAVRs were performed between 2015 and 2020, 5,235 of which (1.72%) were in patients with TAVR-CTO and 299,095 (98.28%) in those with TAVR-no CTO. After propensity matching, there was no difference in the odds of in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.94 to 1.75, p = 0.11). However, TAVR-CTO was associated with an increased incidence of acute myocardial infarction (aOR 1.27, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.53, p = 0.01), cardiac arrest (aOR, 2.60, 95% CI 1.64 to 4.11, p <0.0001), and need for mechanical circulatory support (aOR 2.6, 95% CI 1.88 to 3.59, p <0.0001). There was no difference in the incidence of stroke, major bleeding, complete heart block, or requirement for permanent pacemaker between the 2 groups. However, the TAVR-CTO cohort had a slightly greater length of stay and total hospitalization cost. TAVR is a relatively safe procedure among those with concomitant CTO lesions; however, it is associated with a greater incidence of acute myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, and requirement for mechanical circulatory support., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major health concern among older adults (≥80 years). We analyzed a US national database to evaluate the clinical outcomes, resource utilization, and economic burden of AMI hospitalizations in older patients., Methods and Results: We analyzed the National Inpatient Sample data between January 2004 and December 2018. We examined the trends of clinical characteristics, inpatient mortality, and healthcare cost utilization in older US adults for AMI hospitalizations. We identified 2,174,587 weighted AMI hospitalizations. There was a decrease in AMI hospitalizations per 100,000 older US adults from 1,679 in 2004 to 1036 in 2018, with a more profound decrease in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We noted an overall increase in comorbidities (hypertension, heart failure, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease). Overall, inpatient mortality was 10.6%; adjusted inpatient mortality decreased from 14% in 2004 to 8% in 2018 (p trend <0.001)- consistent across sexes and races. There was increased percutaneous intervention (PCI) utilization [19.3% (2004-2008) to 24.0% (2014-2018)] with a concomitant increase in bleeding and acute kidney injury (AKI). Black adults and women underwent revascularization less frequently than White adults and men. White patients had higher inpatient mortality compared to black patients. There was a decrease in adjusted mean length of stay (LOS) from 6.2 days in 2004 to 3.9 days in 2018 (p trend <0.001). There was an increase in discharge disposition to home with a concomitant decrease in utilization of rehabilitation facilities at discharge., Conclusion: Our study showed that the inpatient mortality and LOS has decreased for AMI hospitalizations in the older patient population in the US. While utilization of revascularization strategies has increased, sex and racial disparities exist in the utilization of PCI., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

There are limited data regarding the burden and trend of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). We analyzed the National Inpatient Sample database from January 2005 to December 2018 to examine the hospitalization trends amongst adults with PsA primarily for heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and stroke. The primary outcomes of interest included in-hospital mortality, length of stay (LOS), and inflation-adjusted cost. The age-adjusted percentage of HF hospitalizations among PsA patients decreased from 2.5% (2005/06) to 1.4% (2011/12; P-trend 0.013) and subsequently increased to 2.0% (2017/18; P-trend 0.044). The age-adjusted percentage of AMI hospitalizations among PsA patients showed a non-statistically significant decreasing trend from 2.1% (2005/06) to 1.7% (2011/12; P-trend 0.248) and showed a non-statistically significant increase to 2.3% (2017/18; P-trend 0.056). The age-adjusted stroke hospitalizations increased from 1.1% (2005/06) to 1.3% (2017/18; P-trend 0.036). Apart from a decrease in adjusted inflation-adjusted cost among heart failure hospitalizations, there was no significant change in inpatient mortality, length of stay or hospital cost, during the study period. We found an increasing trend of cardiovascular hospitalizations in patients with PsA. These findings will raise awareness and inform further research and clinical practice for PSA patients with CVD., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The ideal antithrombotic therapy post transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) remains uncertain. We performed a network meta-analysis of RCTs to report the outcomes with various antithrombotic strategies to determine the optimal therapy. A systematic search of the PubMed/Medline and Cochrane databases was performed through January 6, 2022. The primary outcome was stroke and the secondary outcomes were major/life-threatening bleeding, myocardial infarction, all-cause mortality, and cardiac mortality. A network meta-analysis was conducted with a random-effects model. All analysis was carried out using R version 4.0.3. Six RCTs were included in the final analysis. SAPT when compared with DAPT was associated with a reduced risk of major or life-threatening bleeding [OR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.25-0.70]. Other antithrombotic strategies were associated with similar odds of major and life-threatening bleeding post TAVR compared with DAPT. There was no difference in the incidence of stroke, myocardial infarction, all-cause and cardiac mortality between the various antithrombotic strategies post TAVR. The present analysis reported SAPT as the preferred antithrombotic regimen post TAVR compared with other regimens in patients who do not have other indications for anticoagulation. Additional studies such as ADAPT-TAVR, CLOE and ATLANTIS trials will further add to our understanding of the adequate antithrombotic regimen post TAVR in patients with otherwise no indication for anticoagulation., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cardiac arrest (CA) among young adults (<45 y) with ischemic heart disease (IHD) remained understudied. We evaluated the trends in clinical profile, in-hospital mortality, and health care resource utilization in CA-related hospitalizations among young adults with IHD. National Inpatient Sample (2004-2018) was used to identify adults aged 18-45 years. Of 77,359 weighted CA-related hospitalizations (mean age: 39 [0.05] y; 34.3% women), 65% had a myocardial infarction (MI), and 58% had a shockable rhythm. Between 2004 and 2018, CA-related hospitalizations among young adults with IHD increased from 1.8% to 2.4%. Overall, in-hospital mortality was 36.4%, which was higher for women vs men (40.4% vs 34.2%; P < 0.001) and Black vs White adults (43.9% vs 33.3%; P < 0.001). In-hospital mortality increased from 33.5% to 38.1%, with a consistent upward trend in men, White adults, and both MI and non-MI cases. However, in STEMI (40%), in-hospital mortality decreased from 34.6% to 20.2% (p-trend <0.001), while it increased in NSTEMI (14.8%) from 34.3% to 47.5% (p-trend <0.001). Overall mean length of stay (LOS) (7-9 days) and mean inflation-adjusted care cost ($34,431-$44,646) increased over the study duration. CA-related hospitalizations and associated LOS and inflation-adjusted care costs have increased in the last 15 years. In-hospital mortality increased by ∼5% during the study period with a higher mortality in women and among black adults. While increased CA-related hospitalizations may reflect improved pre-hospital care, greater efforts are needed to address improve in-hospital survival in CA among young adults with IHD., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent arrhythmia in the United States. However, studies evaluating the impact of iron deficiency anemia on AF outcomes are limited. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the association of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) on clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized with AF. A retrospective analysis of adult hospital discharges from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) between 2004 and 2018 was conducted. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association of IDA and other clinical outcomes ie inpatient mortality, acute myocardial infarction, cardiogenic shock, acute kidney injury, vasopressors use, length of stay, and other resource utilization. These models were adjusted for patient and hospital-level characteristics. A total of 5,975,241 weighted primary AF hospitalizations were identified. Out of these, 152,059 (2.5%) had diagnosis of IDA. After adjustment of variables, admissions with IDA were associated with higher rates of acute myocardial infarction (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.19 P = 0.026), use of vasopressors (aOR = 1.30, CI 1.27-1.32, P <0.001), invasive mechanical ventilation (aOR = 1.26, CI 1.14-1.40 P <0.001) and acute kidney injury (aOR = 1.72, CI 1.66-1.79 P <0.001). There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (aOR = 0.97, CI 0.87-1.07, P = 0.513), cardiogenic shock, in-hospital cardiac arrest or use of mechanical circulatory support. Adjusted mortality in patients with AF and IDA decreased from 1.09% to 0.54% from 2004 to2018 (P -trend < 0.001). Among hospitalized patients with AF, our study did not show any difference in all-cause mortality between those with and without IDA., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Dementia and cardiovascular diseases contribute to a significant disability and healthcare utilization in the elderly., Objective: The in-hospital treatment patterns and outcomes of heart failure (HF) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are not well-studied in this population., Methods: We used the National Inpatient Sample database to identify AMI and HF hospitalizations in adults ≥65 years between 2016 and 2018., Results: A total of 2,466,369 HF hospitalizations (277,900 with dementia [11.3%]) and 1,094,155 AMI hospitalizations (100,365 with dementia [9.2%]) were identified. Patients with dementia were older (mean age 83.8 vs 78.6 years for HF, and 83.0 vs 75.8 years for AMI) with female predominance (59.0% for HF and 56.0% for AMI) than those without dementia. In adjusted analysis, patients with dementia had higher in-hospital mortality (HF 4.7% vs 3.1%, aOR 1.33 [1.27-1.39] and AMI 9.9% vs 5.9%, aOR 1.23 [1.17-1.30]), p < 0.001) and lower mechanical circulatory support utilization. Patients with AMI and dementia were less likely to receive revascularization (including percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass grafting, and thrombolysis), vasopressors, and invasive mechanical ventilation. They had a longer mean length of stay (LOS) (5.5 vs 5.3 days for HF and 5.1 vs 4.8 days for AMI, p < 0.001 for both), a lower inflation-adjusted cost of care for AMI ($15,486 vs $23,215, p < 0.001), and higher rates of transfer to rehabilitation facilities., Conclusion: Patients with dementia admitted for HF or AMI had higher in-hospital mortality, a longer LOS, and were less likely to receive aggressive revascularization interventions after AMI., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background Evaluating premature (<65 years of age) mortality because of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) by demographic and regional characteristics may inform public health interventions. Methods and Results We used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER (Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) death certificate database to examine premature (<65 years of age) age-adjusted AMI mortality rates per 100 000 and average annual percentage change from 1999 to 2019. Overall, the age-adjusted AMI mortality rate was 13.4 (95% CI, 13.3-13.5). Middle-aged adults, men, non-Hispanic Black adults, and rural counties had higher mortality than young adults, women, NH White adults, and urban counties, respectively. Between 1999 and 2019, the age-adjusted AMI mortality rate decreased at an average annual percentage change of -3.4 per year (95% CI, -3.6 to -3.3), with the average annual percentage change showing higher decline in age-adjusted AMI mortality rates among large (-4.2 per year [95% CI, -4.4 to -4.0]), and medium/small metros (-3.3 per year [95% CI, -3.5 to -3.1]) than rural counties (-2.4 per year [95% CI, -2.8 to -1.9]). Age-adjusted AMI mortality rates >90th percentile were distributed in the Southern states, and those with mortality <10th percentile were clustered in the Western and Northeastern states. After an initial decline between 1999 and 2011 (-4.3 per year [95% CI, -4.6 to -4.1]), the average annual percentage change showed deceleration in mortality since 2011 (-2.1 per year [95% CI, -2.4 to -1.8]). These trends were consistent across both sexes, all ethnicities and races, and urban/rural counties. Conclusions During the past 20 years, decline in premature AMI mortality has slowed down in the United States since 2011, with considerable heterogeneity across demographic groups, states, and urbanicity. Systemic efforts are mandated to address cardiovascular health disparities and outcomes among nonelderly adults.

The role of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) who subsequently undergo transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) remains uncertain. Therefore, we conducted this study to assess the association of PCI before TAVR with mortality and cardiovascular outcomes. We used the TriNetX database (Jan 2012 - Aug 2022) and grouped patients into PCI (3 months or less) before TAVR and no PCI. We performed propensity score matched (PSM) analyses for outcomes at 30 days and 1 year. Of 17,120 patients undergoing TAVR, 2322 (14 %) had PCI, and 14,798 (86 %) did not have PCI before TAVR. In the PSM cohort (2026 patients in each group), PCI was not associated with lower all-cause mortality at 30 days (HR: 1.25, 95 % CI: 0.82–1.90) or 1 year (HR: 1.02, 95 % CI: 0.83–1.24). Frequency of repeat PCI after TAVR was low in both no PCI vs. PCI (2.4 % vs. 1.2 %) at 1 year; PCI was associated with a lower rate of repeat PCI (HR: 0.49, 95 % CI: 0.30–0.80). Sensitivity analysis revealed an E -value of 3.5 for repeat PCI (E-value for lower CI for HR: 1.81). PCI was not linked to reductions in MI, heart failure exacerbation, all-cause hospitalization, major bleeding, or permanent pacemaker/implantable cardioverter defibrillator. This analysis showed that PCI prior to TAVR was not associated with improvement in all-cause mortality. However, PCI was associated with a reduced rate of repeat PCI at 1 year. • We examined a large United States (US)-based database to investigate the demographic and clinical profiles of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) recipients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and to determine whether PCI influences mortality and cardiovascular outcomes before TAVI. • PCI did not impact all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure (HF) exacerbation, all-cause hospitalization, or major bleeding at 30 days or 1 year in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) than those who did not undergo PCI. • There was a significant reduction in repeat PCI at 1 year, and sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the observed association is robust against potential unmeasured confounding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Teaching hospitals experience no negative effects on STEMI patients in summer with new residents, fellows, and attendings. • Given the limitations of HCUP databases including the (NRD), a prospective cohort study may be needed to confirm findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]