"It's more than just a conversation about the heart": exploring barriers, enablers, and opportunities for improving the delivery and uptake of cardiac neurodevelopmental follow-up care.

Introduction: Surveillance, screening, and evaluation for neurodevelopmental delays is a pivotal component of post-surgical care for children with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, challenges exist in implementing such neurodevelopmental follow-up care in international practice. This study aimed to characterise key barriers, enablers, and opportunities for implementing and delivering outpatient cardiac neurodevelopmental follow-up care in Australia. Methods: an exploratory descriptive qualitative study was conducted with healthcare professionals across Australia who had lived experience of designing, implementing, or delivering neurodevelopmental care for children with CHD. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted using a guide informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to explore contextual influences. Interview transcripts were analysed using a rapid qualitative approach including templated summaries and hybrid deductive-inductive matrix analysis. Results: fifty-two participants were interviewed. Perceived barriers and enablers were organised into six higher-order themes: factors in the broader environmental, economic, and political context; healthcare system factors; organisational-level factors; provider factors; patient and family factors; and care model factors. The largest number of barriers occurred at the healthcare system level (service accessibility, fragmentation, funding, workforce), while service providers demonstrated the most enabling factors (interprofessional relationships, skilled teams, personal characteristics). Strategies to improve practice included building partnerships; generating evidence; increasing funding; adapting for family-centred care; and integrating systems and data. Discussion: Australia shares many similar barriers and enablers to cardiac neurodevelopmental care with other international contexts. However, due to unique geographical and health-system factors, care models and implementation strategies will require adaption to the local context to improve service provision.

Point-of-care high-sensitivity cardiac troponin in suspected acute myocardial infarction assessed at baseline and 2†h.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Strategies to assess patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) using a point-of-care (POC) high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assay may expedite emergency care. A 2-h POC hs-cTnI strategy for emergency patients with suspected AMI was derived and validated. METHODS: In two international, multi-centre, prospective, observational studies of adult emergency patients (1486 derivation cohort and 1796 validation cohort) with suspected AMI, hs-cTnI (Siemens Atellica® VTLi) was measured at admission and 2 h later. Adjudicated final diagnoses utilized the hs-cTn assay in clinical use. A risk stratification algorithm was derived and validated. The primary diagnostic outcome was index AMI (Types 1 and 2). The primary safety outcome was 30-day major adverse cardiac events incorporating AMI and cardiac death. RESULTS: Overall, 81 (5.5%) and 88 (4.9%) patients in the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively, had AMI. The 2-h algorithm defined 66.1% as low risk with a sensitivity of 98.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 89.3%-99.9%] and a negative predictive value of 99.9 (95% CI 99.2%-100%) for index AMI in the derivation cohort. In the validation cohort, 53.3% were low risk with a sensitivity of 98.9% (95% CI 92.4%-99.8%) and a negative predictive value of 99.9% (95% CI 99.3%-100%) for index AMI. The high-risk metrics identified 5.4% of patients with a specificity of 98.5% (95% CI 96.6%-99.4%) and a positive predictive value of 74.5% (95% CI 62.7%-83.6%) for index AMI. CONCLUSIONS: A 2-h algorithm using a POC hs-cTnI concentration enables safe and efficient risk assessment of patients with suspected AMI. The short turnaround time of POC testing may support significant efficiencies in the management of the large proportion of emergency patients with suspected AMI.

Perinatal outcomes after in-utero exposure to beta-blockers in women with heart disease: Data from the ESC EORP registry of pregnancy and cardiac disease (ROPAC).

BACKGROUND: Beta-blockers are commonly used drugs during pregnancy, especially in women with heart disease, and are regarded as relatively safe although evidence is sparse. Differences between beta-blockers are not well-studied. METHODS: In the Registry of Pregnancy And Cardiac disease (ROPAC, n = 5739), a prospective global registry of pregnancies in women with structural heart disease, perinatal outcomes (small for gestational age (SGA), birth weight, neonatal congenital heart disease (nCHD) and perinatal mortality) were compared between women with and without beta-blocker exposure, and between different beta-blockers. Multivariable regression analysis was used for the effect of beta-blockers on birth weight, SGA and nCHD (after adjustment for maternal and perinatal confounders). RESULTS: Beta-blockers were used in 875 (15.2%) ROPAC pregnancies, with metoprolol (n = 323, 37%) and bisoprolol (n = 261, 30%) being the most frequent. Women with beta-blocker exposure had more SGA infants (15.3% vs 9.3%, p < 0.001) and nCHD (4.7% vs 2.7%, p = 0.001). Perinatal mortality rates were not different (1.4% vs 1.9%, p = 0.272). The adjusted mean difference in birth weight was -177 g (-5.8%), the adjusted OR for SGA was 1.7 (95% CI 1.3-2.1) and for nCHD 2.3 (1.6-3.5). With metoprolol as reference, labetalol (0.2, 0.1-0.4) was the least likely to cause SGA, and atenolol (2.3, 1.1-4.9) the most. CONCLUSIONS: In women with heart disease an association was found between maternal beta-blocker use and perinatal outcomes. Labetalol seems to be associated with the lowest risk of developing SGA, while atenolol should be avoided.

Mapping Kansas City cardiomyopathy, Seattle Angina, and minnesota living with heart failure to the MacNew-7D in patients with heart disease.

INTRODUCTION: The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ), and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) are widely used non-preference-based instruments that measure health-related quality of life (QOL) in people with heart disease. However, currently it is not possible to estimate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) for economic evaluation using these instruments as the summary scores produced are not preference-based. The MacNew-7D is a heart disease-specific preference-based instrument. This study provides different mapping algorithms for allocating utility scores to KCCQ, MLHFQ, and SAQ from MacNew-7D to calculate QALYs for economic evaluations. METHODS: The study included 493 participants with heart failure or angina who completed the KCCQ, MLHFQ, SAQ, and MacNew-7D questionnaires. Regression techniques, namely, Gamma Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Bayesian GLM, Linear regression with stepwise selection and Random Forest were used to develop direct mapping algorithms. Cross-validation was employed due to the absence of an external validation dataset. The study followed the Mapping onto Preference-based measures reporting Standards checklist. RESULTS: The best models to predict MacNew-7D utility scores were determined using KCCQ, MLHFQ, and SAQ item and domain scores. Random Forest performed well for item scores for all questionnaires and domain score for KCCQ, while Bayesian GLM and Linear Regression were best for MLHFQ and SAQ domain scores. However, models tended to over-predict severe health states. CONCLUSION: The three cardiac-specific non-preference-based QOL instruments can be mapped onto MacNew-7D utilities with good predictive accuracy using both direct response mapping techniques. The reported mapping algorithms may facilitate estimation of health utility for economic evaluations that have used these QOL instruments.

External validation of a rapid algorithm using high-sensitivity troponin assay results for evaluating patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to validate the clinical performance of a rapid assessment pathway incorporating the Siemens Atellica IM high sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assay in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: This was a multicentre prospective observational study of adult ED patients presenting to five Australian hospitals between November 2020 and September 2021. Participants included those with symptoms of suspected AMI (without ST-segment elevation MI on presentation ECG). The Siemen's Atellica IM hs-cTnI laboratory-based assay was used to measure troponin concentrations at admission and after 2-3 hours and cardiologists adjudicated final diagnoses. The HighSTEACS diagnostic algorithm was evaluated, incorporating hs-cTnI concentrations at presentation and absolute changes within the first 2 to 3 hours. The primary outcome was index AMI, including type 1 or 2 non-ST segment elevation MI (NSTEMI) or ST-elevation MI (STEMI) following presentation. 30-day major adverse cardiac outcomes (including AMI, urgent revascularisation or cardiac death) were also reported. The trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. RESULTS: 1994 patients were included. The average age was 56.2 years (SD=15.6), and 44.9% were women. 118 (5.9%) patients had confirmed index AMI. The 2-hour algorithm defined 61.3% of patients as low risk. Sensitivity was 99.1% (94.0%-99.9%) and negative predictive value was 99.9% (99.3%-100%). 24.4% of patients were deemed intermediate risk. When applying the parameters for high risk, 252 (14.3%) were identified, with a specificity of 91.5% (88.7%-93.6%) and a PPV of 42.0% (35.6-48.7%). CONCLUSIONS: A 2-hour algorithm based on the HighSTEACS strategy using the Siemens Atellica IM hs-cTnI laboratory-based assay enables safe and efficient risk assessment of emergency patients with suspected AMI. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12621000053820.