Overcoming barriers to implementation: Improving incidental coronary calcium reporting on non-EKG gated chest CT scans.

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend the reporting of incidental CAC on non-EKG-gated CT scans of the chest. The finding of incidental moderate or severe CAC on non-cardiac non-contrast chest CT correlates with a CAC score ≥ 100 Agatston units, a guideline-based indication for a clinician-patient discussion regarding the initiation of statin therapy. In contemporary practice, whether the presence and severity of incidental CAC are routinely reported on such CT scans of the chest is unknown. METHODS: At a major university hospital, we collected a one-month convenience sample of 297 patients who had chest CT imaging for indications other than lung cancer screening (OICT) and 42 patients who underwent lung cancer chest CT screening (LSCT). We evaluated reporting patterns of incidental CAC in the body and impression of the reports as compared to the overreading of such studies by a board-certified CT chest radiologist. We hypothesized and demonstrated that there was underreporting of incidental CAC on these scans. We then undertook an initiative to educate reporting radiologists on the importance of reporting CAC and implemented a reporting template change to encourage routine reporting. Then we repeated another one-month sample (n= 363 for the OICT and n= 63 for the LSCT groups) to evaluate reporting patterns following our intervention. RESULTS: The presence of incidental moderate and severe CAC was systematically underreported in the OICT group (0 and 4.8 %) and the severity was never mentioned in the impression of reports. In the LSCT group, the presence of incidental moderate and severe CAC was also underreported (66.7 % and 75 %) and the severity of CAC was mentioned 50 % of the time in the impression of the reports. Following the initiation of an educational program and radiology reporting template change, there was a significant increase in reporting of moderate or severe CAC in the OICT group (0 vs. 80.0 %, p < 0.001) and (4.8 vs. 93.5 %, p < 0.001) respectively and a significant increase in the reporting of the severity of incidental CAC for those with severe CAC in the LSCT group (50 vs. 94.1 %, p=0.006). CONCLUSION: Despite guideline recommendations, Incidental CAC was underreported at a large academic center. We implemented a system that significantly improved reporting patterns of incidental CAC. Failure to report incidental CAC represents a missed opportunity to initiate preventive therapies. Hospital systems interested in improving the quality of their radiology reporting procedures should examine their practices to assure that CAC quantification is routinely performed.

US trends of in-hospital morbidity and mortality for acute myocardial infarctions complicated by cardiogenic shock.

BACKGROUND: There is limited real-world data highlighting recent temporal in-hospital morbidity and mortality trends for cases of acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock. The role of mechanical circulatory support within this patient population remains unclear. METHODS: The US National Inpatient Sample database was sampled from 2011 to 2018 identifying 206,396 hospitalizations with a primary admission diagnosis of ST- or Non-ST elevation myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock. The primary outcomes included trends of all-cause in-hospital mortality, mechanical circulatory support use, and sex-specific trends for acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (AMI-CS) over the study period. RESULTS: The annual number of AMI-CS hospitalizations increased from 22,851 in 2011 to 30,015 in 2018 and in-hospital mortality trends remained similar (42.9 % to 43.7 %, ptrend < 0.001). The proportion of patients receiving any temporary MCS device decreased (46.4 % to 44.4 %). The use of intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) decreased (44.9 % to 32.9 %) and the use of any other non-IABP MCS device increased (2.5 % to 15.6 %), ptrend<0.001. Sex-specific mortality indicate female in-hospital mortality remained similar (50.3 % to 51 %, ptrend<0.001), but higher than male in-hospital mortality, which increased non-significantly (38.8 % to 40.2 %, ptrend = 0.372). CONCLUSIONS: From 2011 to 2018, hospitalizations for AMI-CS patients have increased in number. However, there has been no recent appreciable change in AMI-CS mortality despite a changing treatment landscape with decreasing use of IABPs and increasing use of non-IABP MCS devices. Further research is necessary to examine the appropriate use of MCS devices within this population.

Hypothyroidism in Adult Women: The Utility of Targeted vs Universal Thyroid Screening.

Hypothyroidism is a common disease that is more prevalent in female populations. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evidence, risks, and benefits of screening asymptomatic women for hypothyroidism. There is lack of evidence to support clinical management of asymptomatic individuals with an elevated TSH and normal serum thyroxine levels. Patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, especially the elderly, are at risk of overtreatment. Given these considerations, the majority of US and UK professional organizations do not support universal screening. Many do offer caveats for special groups, including pregnant people, who may need screening if there are clinical symptoms or family history of autoimmune disease. In conclusion, targeted screening may be best recommended based on risk factors, symptoms, and clinical suspicion, rather than at a universal level.

Under-reporting and under-representation of non-Hispanic Black subjects in lipid-lowering atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease outcomes trials: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Non-Hispanic (NH) Black participants have been under-represented in studies of cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the trends of reporting and representation of NH Black subjects in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of lipid-lowering therapies demonstrating atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk reduction benefit. METHODS: The electronic databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from 1990-2020. Studies of lipid-lowering therapies (i.e., statins, ezetimibe, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors [PCSK9], and icosapent ethyl) with proven ASCVD benefit, sample sizes of at least 1000 subjects and follow-up of at least 1 year were included (40 RCTs, N=306 747 total participants). We examined articles and supplementary material for participant-level race data. Using United States disease prevalence data, the participation-to-prevalence ratio (PPR) metric was used to estimate the representation of NH Black subjects compared with their reported disease burden (i.e., < 0.8 indicated under-representation; > 1.2, over-representation; and 0.8 to <1.2, adequate representation). RESULTS: The median (interquartile range) number of participants per trial was 4871 (2434-10077). NH Black enrollees comprised 7.3% (95% CI, 0.9%-15.4%) of the total number of subjects reported. During the time intervals 1990-1995, 1996-2000, 2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015 and 2016-2020, NH Black participation was 0%, 1.1%, 4.4%, 4.8%, 0.2% and 0.7% respectively (P for trend <0.001). For statin trials, the participation of NH Black subjects was reported in 0 studies between 1990-1995 and in 9 of 28 trials from 1996-2020. For ezetimibe and icosapent ethyl, NH Black participants were reported in 0 of 3 and 0 of 1 studies, respectively. For trials of PCSK9 inhibitors, NH Black subjects were reported in 2 of 5 (40%). NH Black participants were under-represented compared with their disease burden in studies evaluating subjects with diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, stable coronary artery disease, and acute coronary syndrome (PPR < 0.8 for all). CONCLUSION: NH Black participants are markedly under-represented, and results are under-reported. The inclusion of population and disease specific representation of NH Black persons and their related social determinants of health will help to address the disparity in preventive care for this historically undertreated population.