Outbreak of postpartum group a Streptococcus infections on a labor and delivery unit.

A healthcare-associated group A Streptococcus outbreak involving six patients, four healthcare workers, and one household contact occurred in the labor and delivery unit of an academic medical center. Isolates were highly related by whole genome sequencing. Infection prevention measures, healthcare worker screening, and chemoprophylaxis of those colonized halted further transmission.

The impact of baseline dietary fatty acid intake on the association between lipoprotein(a) and mortality in two US cohorts.

Background: Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is an established casual risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. It remains unknown whether dietary fat modifies the association of Lp(a) with cardiovascular death. Aim: To understand if dietary fat modifies the association between Lp(a) and cardiovascular death. Methods: We utilized the Atherosclerotic Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III cohorts and used multivariate cox proportional hazard modeling to test the association between Lp(a), dietary fats, and cardiovascular death. Results: The sample (n = 22,805) had average age 51.3 years and was mostly female (55.4%). Lp(a) ≥ 30 mg/dL was associated with CV death in both ARIC (1.36, p = 0.001) and NHANES (1.31, p = 0.03). In multivariate analysis, no categorical or individual fatty acids modified the association between Lp(a) and CV death. Conclusion: There was no evidence that baseline dietary fat intake modified the association between Lp(a) and CV death.

Dietary Counseling Documentation Among Patients Recently Hospitalized for Cardiovascular Disease.

BACKGROUND: Diet intervention forms the cornerstone for cardiovascular disease (CVD) management. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to measure the frequency of dietary counseling documentation for patients recently hospitalized with CVD. DESIGN: This was an observational study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Patients were included from the Michigan Value Collaborative Multipayer Claims Registry from October 2015 to February 2020. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The study measured the frequency of medical claims that document dietary counseling ≤90 days after hospitalization (ie, an episode of care) for CVD events (coronary artery bypass grafting, acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and percutaneous coronary intervention). Dietary counseling documentation was defined as having an encounter-level International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision code for dietary counseling or current procedural terminology code for medical nutrition therapy or cardiac rehabilitation. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Multivariable logistic regression was used to measure variation in documentation across gender, age, comorbidities, hospital geography, CVD event, and insurer. RESULTS: There were 175,631 episodes of care (congesitve heart failure 47.1%, acute myocardial infarction 28.7%, percutaneous coronary intervention 17.0%, and coronary artery bypass grafting 7.3%) among 146,185 individuals. Most episodes occurred among men (55.8%) and those older than age 65 years (71.9%). Dietary counseling was documented for 22.8% of episodes and was more common as cardiac rehabilitation (18.6%) than other encounter types (5.1%). In multivariable analysis, there was lower odds for dietary counseling documentation among those older than age 65 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.77; P < .001), women (OR 0.83; P < .001), with chronic kidney disease (OR 0.74; P < .001), or diabetes (OR 0.95; P < .001), but greater odds for those with obesity (OR 1.28; P < .001) and nonmetropolitan hospitals (OR 1.31; P < .001). Compared with coronary artery bypass grafting, acute myocardial infarction (OR 0.29; P < .001), confestive heart failure (OR 0.12; P < .001), and percutaneous coronary intervention (OR 0.36; P < .001) episodes had lower odds to have dietary counseling coded. Compared with Traditional Medicare, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage health maintenance organization plans had lower odds, whereas Commercial or Medicare Advantage preferred provider organization and Commercial health maintenance organization plans had higher odds to have dietary counseling documented. Results were mostly similar when evaluated by race. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary counseling was infrequently documented after hospitalization for CVD episodes in medical claims in a Michigan-based multipayer claims database with large variation by reason for hospitalization and patient factors.

Testing a Cloud-Based Model for Active Surveillance of Medical Devices with Analyses of Coronary Stent Safety Using the Data Extraction and Longitudinal Trend Analysis (DELTA) System.

Objective: To demonstrate the use of the Data Extraction and Longitudinal Trend Analysis (DELTA) system in the National Evaluation System for health Technology's (NEST) medical device surveillance cloud environment by analyzing coronary stent safety using real world clinical data and comparing results to clinical trial findings. Design and Setting: Electronic health record (EHR) data from two health systems, the Social Security Death Master File, and device databases were ingested into the NEST cloud, and safety analyses of two stents were performed using DELTA. Participants and Interventions: This is an observational study of patients receiving zotarolimus drug-eluting coronary stents (ZES) or everolimus eluting coronary stents (EES) between July 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017. Results: After exclusions, 3334 patients receiving EES and 1002 receiving ZES were available for study. Analysis using inverse probability weighting showed no significant difference in one-year mortality or major adverse cardiac events (MACE) for EES compared to ZES [Mortality Odds Ratio 0.94 (95% CI 0.81-1.175); p = 0.780] [MACE Odds Ratio 1.04 (95% CI 0.92-1.16; p = 0.551]). Analysis using propensity matching showed no significant difference in EES one-year mortality (547 of 992 alive and available after censoring) compared to ZES (546 of 992) [Log-Rank statistic 0.3348 (p = 0.563)]. Conclusion: Automated cloud-based medical device safety surveillance using EHR data is feasible and was efficiently performed using DELTA. No statistically significant differences in 1-year safety outcomes between ZES and EES were identified using two statistical approaches, consistent with randomized trial findings.

Comparison of virtual vs face-to-face medical nutrition therapy in patients with hyperlipidemia.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, utilization of telemedicine visits has increased. The outcomes of virtual compared to face-to-face (F2F) visits for treating hyperlipidemia are uncharacterized. This observational study compared pre- to post-visit change in lipid markers between 41 virtual and 151 F2F visits with a registered dietitian nutritionist at the University of Michigan Preventive Cardiology program from 3/31/2019-9/31/2022. Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides (TG) were collected pre- and post-visit with a median 33 days between collections. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) was calculated using the Sampson equation. We used paired T-tests to evaluate mean change in lipid markers for each visit type between pre and post timepoints, and linear regression to compare virtual to F2F visits. There was a significant decrease in TC, LDL-C, and non-HDL-C for both visit types. There was no significant difference in mean change in lipid markers between virtual and F2F visits. Telehealth is a promising strategy for increasing access to medical nutrition therapy.

Educational Attainment and Cardiovascular Risk Among Patients in Cardiac Rehabilitation.

We explored whether patient educational attainment impacted changes in cardiovascular risk factors during cardiac rehabilitation (CR). An observational study was conducted using participant data who completed phase 2 of CR from January 2011 to February 2020 at an academic medical center. The patient cohort was referred to CR after a major cardiac event or to outpatients with stable angina. Patients were excluded if they had no recorded food frequency assessment (FFA) score at CR orientation and graduation. The eligible sample of 1,307 patients were further divided: (1) low educational attainment group (<16 years formal education: high school, high school/general educational development, trade school, and associate's degree) and (2) high educational attainment group (>16 years formal education: bachelor's degree, some postgraduate, master's degree, PhD, and MD). The outcomes included measurements of the FFA, body composition, biophysical health, and psychologic distress. Most patients were male (71.2%), non-Hispanic White (82.2%), and married (73.0%). There were more patients with a high educational attainment (56.8%) than patients with a low educational attainment (43.2%). All measured cardiovascular markers improved after CR for both education level groups. The change in mean FFA score (0.163, p = 0.11) and Brief Symptom Inventory-53 global severity index score (0.422, p = 0.34) did not differ significantly. We observed an improvement in cardiovascular risk measures upon CR participation. These improvements were not limited to high educational attainment patients because we found few differences in the change of risk between the 2 groups. Future studies should continue investigating the impact of education on cardiovascular outcomes as an important social determinant of health.

The Impact of Social Determinants of Health and Lifestyle on the Association of Lipoprotein(a) with Myocardial Infarction and Stroke.

Background: In European cohorts, a higher Mediterranean diet or Life's Simple 7 (LS7) score abolished or attenuated the risk associated with increasing Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] on cardiovascular outcomes. This is unstudied in US cohorts. The impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on the association of Lp(a) with cardiovascular outcomes remains unstudied. We sought to test if a SDOH score and LS7 score impacts the association of Lp(a) with myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke. Methods: Observational Cohort of US Adults from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) and Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohorts. We performed sequential multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis, first adjusting for age, gender, non-HDL-C, race and ethnicity, then added SDOH and LS7 scores sequentially. The primary outcomes were time until first fatal or nonfatal MI or stroke. Results: ARIC (n=15,072; median Lp(a)=17.3 mg/dL) had 16.2 years average follow up. MESA (n=6,822; median Lp(a)=18.3 mg/dL had 12.3 years average follow-up. In multivariable analyses adjusted for age, gender, race and ethnicity, and non-HDL-C, Lp(a) was associated (HR, p-value) with MI in ARIC (1.10, <0.001) and MESA (1.09, <0.001), and stroke in ARIC (1.08, <0.001) but not MESA (0.97, 0.50). With SDOH and LS7 added to the model associations remained similar (association of Lp(a) with MI in ARIC 1.09, <0.001 and in MESA 1.10, 0.001, with stroke in ARIC 1.06, <0.003 and in MESA 0.96, 0.39). In models with all covariates, each additional SDOH correlated positively with MI (ARIC 1.13, <0.001; MESA 1.11, <0.001) and stroke (ARIC 1.17, <0.001; HR 1.07, p=0.11) and each additional LS7 score point correlated negatively with MI (ARIC 0.81, <0.001; MESA 0.84, <0.001) and stroke (ARIC 0.82, <0.001; MESA 0.84, <0.001). Conclusions and Relevance: SDOH and lifestyle factors were predictors for MI and stroke that did not impact the association between Lp(a) and cardiovascular events. Our findings support that Lp(a) is an independent risk factor for MI and possibly stroke.

Identifying Factors for Low-Risk Participation in Alternative Cardiac Rehabilitation Models for Patients with Coronary Heart Disease Using MI'S SCOREPAD.

Introduction: Although a recent joint society scientific statement (the American Association of Cardiovascular Pulmonary Rehabilitation, the American Heart Association, and the American College of Cardiology) suggests home-based cardiac rehab (CR) is appropriate for low- and moderate-risk patients, there are no paradigms to define such individuals with coronary heart disease. Methods: We reviewed a decade of data from all patients with coronary heart disease enrolled in a single CR center (University of Michigan) to identify the prevalence of low-risk factors, which may inform on consideration for participation in alternative models of CR. Low-risk factors included not having any of the following: metabolic syndrome, presence of implantable cardioverter defibrillator or permanent pacemaker, active smoking, prior stroke, congestive heart failure, obesity, advanced renal disease, poor exercise capacity, peripheral arterial disease, angina, or clinical depression (MI'S SCOREPAD). We report on the proportion of participants with these risk factors and the proportion with all of these low-risk factors. Results: The mean age of CR participants (n = 1984) was 63 years; 25% were women, and 82% were non-Hispanic White. The mean number of low-risk factors was 8.5, which was similar in the 2011-2012 and 2018-2019 cohorts (8.5 vs. 8.3, respectively, P = 0.08). Additionally, 9.3% of the 2011-2012 cohort and 7.6% of the 2018-2019 cohort had all 11 of the low-risk factors. Conclusion: In this observational study, we provide a first paradigm of identifying factors among coronary heart disease patients that may be considered low-risk and likely high-gain for participation in alternative models of CR. Further work is needed to track clinical outcomes in patients with these factors to determine thresholds for enrolling participants in alternative forms of CR.

Diet and Food and Nutrition Insecurity and Cardiometabolic Disease.

Poor nutrition is the leading cause of poor health, health care spending, and lost productivity in the United States and globally, which acts through cardiometabolic diseases as precursors to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other conditions. There is great interest in how the social determinants of health (the conditions in which people are born, live, work, develop, and age) impact cardiometabolic disease. Food insecurity is an example of a powerful social determinant of health that impacts health outcomes. Nutrition insecurity, a distinct but related concept to food insecurity, is a direct determinant of health. In this article, we provide an overview of how diet in early life relates to cardiometabolic disease and then continue to focus on the concepts of food insecurity and nutrition insecurity. In the discussions herein we make important distinctions between the concepts of food insecurity and nutrition insecurity and provide a review of their concepts, histories, measurement and assessment devices, trends and prevalence, and links to health and health disparities. The discussions here set the stage for future research and practice to directly address the negative consequences of food and nutrition insecurity.

Disparities in Cardiovascular Health by Food Security Status and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Using Life's Essential 8 Metrics.

This cross-sectional study examines the associations among household food security, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation, and cardiovascular health among 2013-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participants.

Assessing and Addressing Social Determinants of Cardiovascular Health: JACC State-of-the-Art Review.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the social conditions in which people are born, live, and work. SDOH offers a more inclusive view of how environment, geographic location, neighborhoods, access to health care, nutrition, socioeconomics, and so on are critical in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. SDOH will continue to increase in relevance and integration of patient management, thus, applying the information herein to clinical and health systems will become increasingly commonplace. This state-of-the-art review covers the 5 domains of SDOH, including economic stability, education, health care access and quality, social and community context, and neighborhood and built environment. Recognizing and addressing SDOH is an important step toward achieving equity in cardiovascular care. We discuss each SDOH within the context of cardiovascular disease, how they can be assessed by clinicians and within health care systems, and key strategies for clinicians and health care systems to address these SDOH. Summaries of these tools and key strategies are provided.

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin rather than IL-33 drives food allergy after epicutaneous sensitization to food allergen.

BACKGROUND: A major route of sensitization to food allergen is through an impaired skin barrier. IL-33 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) have both been implicated in epicutaneous sensitization and food allergy, albeit in different murine models. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the respective contributions of TSLP and IL-33 to the development of atopic dermatitis (AD) and subsequent food allergy in TSLP and IL-33 receptor (ST2)-deficient mice using an AD model that does not require tape stripping. METHOD: TSLP receptor (TSLPR)-/-, ST2-/-, and BALB/cJ control mice were exposed to 3 weekly epicutaneous skin patches of one of saline, ovalbumin (OVA), or a combination of OVA and Aspergillus fumigatus (ASP), followed by repeated intragastric OVA challenges and development of food allergy. RESULTS: ASP and/or OVA patched, but not OVA-alone patched, BALB/cJ mice developed an AD-like skin phenotype. However, epicutaneous OVA sensitization occurred in OVA patched mice and was decreased in ST2-/- mice, resulting in lower intestinal mast cell degranulation and accumulation, as well as OVA-induced diarrhea occurrences on intragastric OVA challenges. In TSLPR-/- mice, intestinal mast cell accumulation was abrogated, and no diarrhea was observed. AD was significantly milder in OVA + ASP patched TSLPR-/- mice compared to wild type and ST2-/- mice. Accordingly, intestinal mast cell accumulation and degranulation were impaired in OVA + ASP patched TSLPR-/- mice compared to wild type and ST2-/- mice, protecting TSLPR-/- mice from developing allergic diarrhea. CONCLUSION: Epicutaneous sensitization to food allergen and development of food allergy can occur without skin inflammation and is partly mediated by TSLP, suggesting that prophylactic targeting of TSLP may be useful in mitigating the development of AD and food allergy early in life in at-risk infants.

Locking the Revolving Door: Racial Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease.

Racial disparities in cardiovascular disease are unjust, systematic, and preventable. Social determinants are a primary cause of health disparities, and these include factors such as structural and overt racism. Despite a number of efforts implemented over the past several decades, disparities in cardiovascular disease care and outcomes persist, pervading more the outpatient rather than the inpatient setting, thus putting racial and ethnic minority groups at risk for hospital readmissions. In this article, we discuss differences in care and outcomes of racial and ethnic minority groups in both of these settings through a review of registries. Furthermore, we explore potential factors that connote a revolving door phenomenon for those whose adverse outpatient environment puts them at risk for hospital readmissions. Additionally, we review promising strategies, as well as actionable items at the policy, clinical, and educational levels aimed at locking this revolving door.

Integrating real-world data to assess cardiac ablation device outcomes in a multicenter study using the OMOP common data model for regulatory decisions: implementation and evaluation.

The objective of this study is to describe application of the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) common data model (CDM) to support medical device real-world evaluation in a National Evaluation System for health Technology Coordinating Center (NESTcc) Test-Case involving 2 healthcare systems, Mercy Health and Mayo Clinic. CDM implementation was coordinated across 2 healthcare systems with multiple hospitals to aggregate both medical device data from supply chain databases and patient outcomes and covariates from electronic health record data. Several data quality assurance (QA) analyses were implemented on the OMOP CDM to validate the data extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) process. OMOP CDM-based data of relevant patient encounters were successfully established to support studies for FDA regulatory submissions. QA analyses verified that the data transformation was robust between data sources and OMOP CDM. Our efforts provided useful insights in real-world data integration using OMOP CDM for medical device evaluation coordinated across multiple healthcare systems.

An Analysis of SNAP Online Purchasing Behavior in California: A Review of the First 7 Months of Program Implementation and Lessons Learned.

PURPOSE: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Online Purchasing Pilot (OPP) allows for the online purchase of groceries using SNAP benefits. First implemented in California in late April 2020, little is known about program usage. This study assessed initial implementation of SNAP Online in California using SNAP OPP transaction data from April - October 2020. Insights can identify usage differences by demographics, store availability, and rurality to help inform future pilot programs and nutrition initiatives. DESIGN: Using generalized estimating equations, we modeled county-level associations between transactions and county-level demographics, rurality, and retailer availability. SETTING: Transaction data from California's Department of Social Services (CDSS) was linked with publicly-available, county-level demographics. SUBJECTS: Anonymized county-level data on SNAP Online transactions and CalFresh households. MEASURES: The primary outcome was successful SNAP Online food transactions per county. ANALYSIS: Generalized estimating equation models with clustering by county was used. RESULTS: During the first 7 months, median SNAP Online transactions per county per month was 665; 2.7% of total SNAP redemptions were from SNAP Online. Counties with more female-led, disabled, Latino, or Asian CalFresh households had fewer Amazon transactions. Each additional Walmart per county corresponded to 260.7 more Walmart transactions (P < .001). Each percent increase in county zip codes covered by Amazon Fresh corresponded to 45.4 fewer Walmart transactions (P < .05) and 37.3 more Amazon transactions (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Number of stores per county was associated with greater online grocery transactions, whereas rurality was not. County-level SNAP demographics correlated with transactions at particular retailers.

Association of vitamins, minerals, and lead with lipoprotein(a) in a cross-sectional cohort of US adults.

Lipoprotein(a)(Lp[a]) is a low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C)-like particle with potent pro-atherothrombotic properties. The association of Lp(a) with several circulating factors, including vitamins, remains unresolved. We performed an observational analysis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III cohort, a cohort used to monitor the nutrition status of US-citizens. We used multivariable linear regression to test associations of Lp(a) and LDL-C with levels of serum vitamins and minerals and whole-blood lead. Analyses controlled for factors known to associate with Lp(a) (age, sex, race/ethnicity, statin use, hemoglobin A1c, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, glomerular filtration rate, alcohol intake, and saturated fat intake). LDL-C was corrected for Lp(a) mass. Multiple sensitivity tests were performed, including considering factors as categorical variables (deficient, normal, elevated). Among 7,662 subjects, Lp(a) correlated (ß-coefficient) positively (change per 1 conventional unit increase) with carotenoids (lycopene (0.17(0.06,0.28), p=0.005), lutein (0.19(0.07,0.30), p=0.002), ß-cryptoxanthin (0.21(0.05,0.37), p=0.01), ß-carotene (0.05(0.02,0.09), p=0.003), and α-carotene (0.15(0.01,0.30), p=0.04)) and lead (0.54(0.03,1.05), p=0.04) levels when tested as continuous variables. LDL-C had similar associations. Lp(a) did not associate with vitamins A, B12, C, or E retinyl esters, folate, RBC-folate, selenium, ferritin, transferrin saturation, or calcium. With factors as categorical variables, Lp(a) but not LDL-C negatively associated with elevated vitamin B12 (-5.41(-9.50, -1.53), p=0.01) and folate (-2.86(-5.09, -0.63), p=0.01). In conclusion, Lp(a) associated similarly to LDL-C when vitamins, minerals, and lead were tested as continuous variables, while only Lp(a) correlated with vitamin B12 and folate when tested as categorical variables. These observations are hypotheses generating and require further studies to determine causality.

Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and treatment targets in vascular surgery patients.

INTRODUCTION: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) is a known contributing factor to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and a primary therapeutic target for medical management of ASCVD. Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL) has recently been identified as a secondary therapeutic target but is not yet widely used in vascular surgery patients. We sought to assess if vascular surgery patients were undertreated per non-HDL therapeutic guidelines. METHODS: This was an observational study that used a single-center database to identify a cohort of adult patients who received care from a vascular surgery provider from 01/2001 to 07/2021. ICD-9/10-CM codes were used to identify patients with a medical history of hyperlipidemia (HLD), coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular occlusive disease (CVOD), peripheral artery disease (PAD), hypertension (HTN), or diabetes mellitus (DM). Patient smoking status and medications were also identified. Lab values were obtained from the first and last patient encounter within our system. Primary outcomes were serum concentrations of LDL and non-HDL, with therapeutic thresholds defined as 70 mg/dL and 100 mg/dL, respectively. RESULTS: The cohort included 2465 patients. At first encounter, average age was 59.3 years old, 21.4% were on statins, 8.4% were on a high-intensity statin, 25.7% were diagnosed with HLD, 5.2% with CAD, 15.3% with PAD, 26.3% with DM, 18.6% with HTN, and 2.1% with CVOD. At final encounter, mean age was 64.8 years, 23.5% were on statins with 10.1% on high-intensity statin. Diagnoses frequency did not change at final encounter. At first encounter, nearly two-thirds of patients were not at an LDL <70 mg/dL (62.3%) or non-HDL <100 mg/dL (66.0%) with improvement at final encounter to 45.2 and 40.5% of patients not at these LDL or non-HDL treatment thresholds, respectively. Patients on statins exhibited similar trends with 51.1 and 50.1% of patients not at LDL or non-HDL treatment thresholds at first encounter and 39.9 and 35.4% not at LDL or non-HDL treatment thresholds at last encounter. Importantly, 6.9% of patients were at LDL but not non-HDL treatment thresholds. DISCUSSION: Among vascular surgery patients, over half did not meet non-HDL targets. These results suggest that we may be vastly under-performing adequate medical optimization with only about one-fourth of patients on a statin at their final encounter and approximately one-tenth of patients being treated with a high-intensity statin. With recent evidence supporting non-HDL as a valuable measurement for atherosclerotic risk, there is potential to optimize medical management beyond current high-intensity statin therapy. Further investigation is needed regarding the risk of adverse events between patients treated with these varied therapeutic targets.