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Background: Early reports suggest the number of cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) patients with primary noncardiac diagnoses is rising in the United States, but no national data currently exist. We examined changes in primary noncardiac diagnoses among elderly patients admitted to a CICU during the past decade.Methods and Results: Using 2003 to 2013 Medicare data, we grouped elderly patients admitted to CICUs into 2 categories based on principal diagnosis at discharge: (1) primary noncardiac diagnoses and (2) primary cardiac diagnoses. We examined changes in patient demographics, comorbidities, procedure use, and risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality. Among 3.4 million admissions with a CICU stay, primary noncardiac diagnoses rose in prevalence from 38.0% to 51.7% between 2003 and 2013. The fastest rising primary noncardiac diagnoses were infectious diseases (7.8%-15.1%) and respiratory diseases (6.0%-7.6%; P<0.001 for both), whereas the fastest declining primary cardiac diagnosis was coronary artery disease (32.3%-19.0%; P<0.001). Simultaneously, the prevalence of both cardiovascular and noncardiovascular comorbidities rose: heart failure (13.9%-34.4%), pulmonary vascular disease (1.2%-7.1%), valvular heart disease (5.0%-9.8%), and renal failure (7.1%-19.6%; P<0.001 for all). As compared with those with primary cardiac diagnoses, elderly CICU patients with primary noncardiac diagnoses had higher rates of noncardiac procedure use and risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality (P<0.001 for all). Risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality declined slightly in the overall cohort from 9.3% to 8.9% (P<0.001).Conclusions: More than half of all elderly patients with a CICU stay across the United States now have primary noncardiac diagnoses at discharge. These patients receive different types of care and have worse outcomes than patients with primary cardiac diagnoses. Our work has important implications for the development of appropriate training and staffing models for the future critical care workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on outcomes of carotid stenting based on operator experience in the U.S. from 2005 to 2007. The study evaluated the link between outcomes and two variables of operator experience, namely, annual volume and experience at the time of the procedure among new operators who performed carotid stenting for the first time following a national coverage decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Administrative data collected from fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years old and above was used under the study. Higher 30-day mortality was observed among patients treated by operators with lower annual volumes and patients treated early during a new operator's experience.

Background: The REPLACE-2 trial demonstrated that bivalirudin with provisional glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPIIb/IIIa) inhibition is not inferior to heparin plus GPIIb/IIIa inhibition in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. The extent to which this applies to patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is unclear. Therefore, we sought to determine if bivalirudin has similar efficacy in ACS patients as compared with "stable" patients in the REPLACE-2 trial.Methods: We analyzed the outcomes of ACS patients compared with stable patients and the outcomes of ACS patients according to whether or not they had received bivalirudin, including the economic costs. The trial enrolled 1351 ACS patients (myocardial infarction within 7 days or unstable angina within 48 hours, but not on ongoing GPIIb/IIIa or heparin therapy) and 4554 stable patients.Results: Patients with ACS had a similar rate of death or myocardial infarction at 30 days compared to stable patients (7.2% vs 6.7%, P = .51) and death at 1 year (1.6% vs 2.2%, P = .169), but a higher rate of urgent coronary artery bypass graft at 30 days (1.0% vs 0.3%, P = .002). Patients with ACS treated with bivalirudin had a similar rate of 30-day death, myocardial infarction, or urgent revascularization compared with ACS patients treated with heparin and GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors (8.7% vs 8.0%, P = .616) and death at 1 year (1.5% vs 1.8%, P = .701), but a higher rate of revascularization at 6 months (12% vs 8.4%, P = .04). Patients with ACS treated with bivalirudin had less major bleeding than ACS patients treated with heparin and GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors, although this was not statistically significant (2.7% vs 4.5%, P = .07). Mean 30-day costs for patients with ACS were dollar 12415 for those treated with bivalirudin and dollar 12806 for those treated with heparin plus GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors (P = .022).Conclusion: Bivalirudin with provisional GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor use in low-risk ACS patients (not receiving preprocedural GPIIb/IIIa blockade) appears to provide similar protection against death and myocardial infarction as the combination of heparin and GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors, although we observed a higher rate of revascularization at 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assessments of healthcare value have largely focused on measuring outcomes of care at a given level of cost with less attention paid to appropriateness. However, understanding how appropriateness relates to outcomes and costs is essential to determining healthcare value.Methods and Results: In a retrospective cohort study design, administrative data from fee-for-service Medicare patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in Michigan hospitals between June 30, 2010, and December 31, 2014, were linked with clinical data from a statewide PCI registry to calculate hospital-level measures of (1) appropriate use criteria scores, (2) 90-day risk-standardized readmission and mortality rates, and (3) 90-day risk-standardized episode costs. We then used Spearman correlation coefficients to assess the relationship between these measures. A total of 29 839 PCIs were performed at 33 PCI hospitals during the study period. A total of 13.3% were for ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, 25.0% for non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, 47.1% for unstable angina, 9.8% for stable angina, and 4.7% for other. The overall hospital-level mean appropriate use criteria score was 8.4±0.2. Ninety-day risk-standardized readmission occurred in 23.7%±3.7% of cases, 90-day risk-standardized mortality in 4.3%±0.6%, and mean risk-standardized episode costs were $26 159±$1074. Hospital-level appropriate use criteria scores did not correlate with 90-day readmission, mortality, or episode costs.Conclusions: Among Medicare patients undergoing PCI in Michigan, we found hospital-level appropriate use criteria scores did not correlate with 90-day readmission, mortality, or episode costs. This finding suggests that a comprehensive understanding of healthcare value requires multidimensional consideration of appropriateness, outcomes, and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study which examines the association of red blood cell transfusion with increased in-hospital mortality level in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Topics discussed include association of red blood cell transfusion after PCI with mortality, myocardial infarction and stroke, use of blood transfusion for patients who are bleeding or have symptomatic anemia, and benefits of restrictive blood transfusion in different clinical setting.

Background: Although many studies show an inverse association between operator procedural volume and short-term adverse outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), the association between procedural volume and longer-term outcomes is unknown.Methods: Using the National Cardiovascular Data Registry CathPCI registry data linked with Medicare claims data, we examined the association between operator PCI volume and long-term outcomes among patients ≥65 years of age. Operators were stratified by average annual PCI volume (counting PCIs performed in patients of all ages): low- (<50 PCIs), intermediate- (50-100), and high- (>100) volume operators. One-year unadjusted rates of death and major adverse coronary events (MACEs; defined as death, readmission for myocardial infarction, or unplanned coronary revascularization) were calculated with Kaplan-Meier methods. The proportional hazards assumption was not met, and risk-adjusted associations between operator volume and outcomes were calculated separately from the time of PCI to hospital discharge and from hospital discharge to 1-year follow-up.Results: Between July 1, 2009, and December 31, 2014, 723 644 PCI procedures were performed by 8936 operators: 2553 high-, 2878 intermediate-, and 3505 low-volume operators. Compared with high- and intermediate-volume operators, low-volume operators more often performed emergency PCI, and their patients had fewer cardiovascular comorbidities. Over 1-year follow-up, 15.9% of patients treated by low-volume operators had a MACE compared with 16.9% of patients treated by high-volume operators ( P=0.004). After multivariable adjustment, intermediate- and high-volume operators had a significantly lower rate of in-hospital death than low-volume operators (odds ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86-0.96 for intermediate versus low; odds ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.75-0.83 for high versus low). There were no significant differences in rates of MACEs, death, myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization between operator cohorts from hospital discharge to 1-year follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio for MACEs, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.96-1.01 for intermediate versus low; hazard ratio, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.04 for high versus low).Conclusions: Unadjusted 1-year outcomes after PCI were worse for older adults treated by operators with higher annual volume; however, patients treated by these operators had more cardiovascular comorbidities. After risk adjustment, higher operator volume was associated with lower in-hospital mortality and no difference in postdischarge MACEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Professional guidelines have reduced the recommended minimum number to an average of 50 percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures performed annually by each operator. Operator volume patterns and associated outcomes since this change are unknown.Objectives: The authors describe herein PCI operator procedure volumes; characteristics of low-, intermediate-, and high-volume operators; and the relationship between operator volume and clinical outcomes in a large, contemporary, nationwide sample.Methods: Using data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry collected between July 1, 2009, and March 31, 2015, we examined operator annual PCI volume. We divided operators into low- (<50 PCIs per year), intermediate- (50 to 100 PCIs per year), and high- (>100 PCIs per year) volume groups, and determined the adjusted association between annual PCI volume and in-hospital outcomes, including mortality.Results: The median annual number of procedures performed per operator was 59; 44% of operators performed <50 PCI procedures per year. Low-volume operators more frequently performed emergency and primary PCI procedures and practiced at hospitals with lower annual PCI volumes. Unadjusted in-hospital mortality was 1.86% for low-volume operators, 1.73% for intermediate-volume operators, and 1.48% for high-volume operators. The adjusted risk of in-hospital mortality was higher for PCI procedures performed by low- and intermediate-volume operators compared with those performed by high-volume operators (adjusted odds ratio: 1.16 for low versus high; adjusted odds ratio: 1.05 for intermediate vs. high volume) as was the risk for new dialysis post PCI. No volume relationship was observed for post-PCI bleeding.Conclusions: Many PCI operators in the United States are performing fewer than the recommended number of PCI procedures annually. Although absolute risk differences are small and may be partially explained by unmeasured differences in case mix between operators, there remains an inverse relationship between PCI operator volume and in-hospital mortality that persisted in risk-adjusted analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Substantial geographic variation exists in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) use across the United States. It is unclear the extent to which high PCI utilization can be explained by PCI for inappropriate indications. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between PCI rates across regional healthcare markets utilizing hospital referral regions (HRRs) and PCI appropriateness. Methods: The number of PCI procedures in each HRR was obtained from the 2010 100% Medicare limited data set. HRRs were divided into quintiles of PCI utilization with increasing rates of utilization progressing to quintile 5. NCDR CathPCI Registry® data were used to evaluate patient characteristics, appropriate use criteria (AUC), and outcomes across the HRR quintiles defined by PCI utilization with the study population restricted to HRRs where ≥ 80% of the PCIs were performed at institutions participating in the registry. PCI appropriateness was defined using 2012 AUC by the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA)/The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). Results: Our study cohort comprised of 380,981 patients treated at 178 HRRs. Mean PCI rates per 1,000 increased from 4.6 in Quintile 1 to 10.8 in Quintile 5. The proportion of non-acute PCIs was 27.7% in Quintile 1 increasing to 30.7% in Quintile 5. Significant variation (p < 0.001) existed across the quintiles in the categorization of appropriateness across HRRs of utilization with more appropriate PCI in lower utilization areas (Appropriate: Q1, 76.53%, Q2, 75.326%, Q3, 75.23%, Q4, 73.95%, Q5, 72.768%; Inappropriate: Q1 3.92%, Q2 4.23%, Q3 4.32%, Q4 4.35%, Q5 4.05%; Uncertain: Q1 8.29%, Q2 8.84%, Q3 8.08%, Q4 9.01%, Q5 8.93%; Not Mappable: Q1 11.26%, Q2 11.67%, Q3 12.37%, Q4 12.69%, Q5 14.34%). There was no difference in risk-adjusted mortality across quintiles of PCI utilization. Conclusions: Geographic regions with lower PCI rates have a higher proportion of PCIs performed for appropriate indications. Areas that perform more PCIs also appear to perform more elective PCI and many could not be mapped by the AUC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public reporting has been proposed as a strategy to improve health care quality. Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) performed in the United States from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2011, included in the CathPCI Registry were identified (n = 1,340,213). Patient characteristics and predicted and observed in-hospital mortality were compared between patients treated with PCI in states with mandated public reporting (Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania) and states without mandated public reporting. Most PCIs occurred in states without mandatory public reporting (88%, n = 1,184,544). Relative to patients treated in nonpublic reporting states, those who underwent PCI in public reporting states had similar predicted in-hospital mortality (1.39% vs 1.37%, p = 0.17) but lower observed in-hospital mortality (1.19% vs 1.41%, adjusted odds ratio [ORadj] 0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.74, 0.88; p <0.001). In patients for whom outcomes were available at 180 days, the differences in mortality persisted (4.6% vs 5.4%, ORadj 0.85, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.92, p <0.001), whereas there was no difference in myocardial infarction (ORadj0.97,95% CI 0.89 to 1.07) or revascularization (ORadj1.05,95% CI 0.92 to 1.20). Hospital readmissions were increased at 180 days in patients who underwent PCI in public reporting states (ORadj 1.08,95% CI 1.03 to 1.12, p = 0.001). In conclusion, patients who underwent PCI in states with mandated public reporting of outcomes had similar predicted risks but significantly lower observed risks of death during hospitalization and in the 6 months after PCI. These findings support considering public reporting as a potential strategy for improving outcomes of patients who underwent PCI although further studies are warranted to delineate the reasons for these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to characterize long-term outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in elderly diabetic patients in routine practice. Background: Although drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation in diabetic patients is common practice, pivotal randomized trials enrolled <2,500 diabetic patients, most of whom were <65 years of age. Methods: Data from 405,679 patients ≥65 years old (33% had diabetes mellitus, of whom 9.8% had insulin-treated diabetes mellitus [ITDM], and 23.3% had noninsulin-treated diabetes mellitus [NITDM]) undergoing PCI from 2004 to 2008 at 946 U.S. hospitals were linked with Medicare inpatient claims data. Results: Over 18.4 months median follow-up (25th to 75th percentile: 8.0 to 30.8 months), ITDM/NITDM were associated with significantly increased adjusted hazards of death (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.91 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.86 to 1.96], p < 0.001/HR: 1.32 [95% CI: 1.29 to 1.35], p < 0.001) and myocardial infarction (HR: 1.87 [95% CI: 1.79 to 1.95], p < 0.001/HR: 1.29 [95% CI: 1.25 to 1.34], p < 0.001) compared with nondiabetic patients. The adjusted hazard of undergoing additional revascularization procedures (HR: 1.14 [95% CI: 1.10 to 1.18, p < 0.001/HR: 1.08 [95% CI: 1.05 to 1.10], p < 0.001) and subsequent hospitalization for bleeding (HR: 1.40 [95% CI: 1.31 to 1.50], p < 0.001/HR: 1.18 [95% CI: 1.13 to 1.24], p < 0.001) were also significantly increased. Compared with nondiabetic patients, there were similar excess risks associated with ITDM/NITDM in patients selected for DES and BMS use; selection for use of DES was associated with reductions in death in ITDM/NITDM and myocardial infarction in ITDM, but not NITDM. There were no significant interactions between diabetes status and stent type for revascularization or bleeding. Conclusions: One-third of older patients undergoing PCI have diabetes. After adjustment for other comorbidities, diabetes, particularly ITDM, remains independently and strongly associated with increased long-term adverse events after both DES and BMS implantation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article highlights a study which examined the use of carotid stenting among elderly Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. between 2005 and 2007. The results of the study revealed that carotid stenting is being performed by diverse specialists within hospital referral regions (HRRs). The study also showed that the population-based utilization rates are higher in HRRs where cardiologists perform most of the procedure with similar outcomes.