Utilization of an ICU Severity of Illness Scoring System to Triage Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To subjectively identify low-risk ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients and triage this low-risk population to an intermediate level of care. BACKGROUND: Many patients with STEMI are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), however, a large portion do not merit ICU admission. We sought to examine whether, among post-STEMI patients admitted to the ICU, if an easily obtainable subjective scoring system could predict low-risk patients and safely triage them to an intermediate level of care. METHODS: Retrospective observational study at Christiana Hospital, a 900-bed regional referral center. Data were defined by the ACTION Registry and CathPCI Registry. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) predictions were retrieved for all patients with STEMI and were analyzed for complications, length of stay, and inhospital mortality. We then examined subjective criteria to triage patients with STEMI out of the ICU. RESULTS: Among 253 patients with STEMI, 179 (70.75%) were classified as low risk (intermediate level care appropriate) and 74 (29.25%) were classified as high risk (ICU appropriate). The mean age was 64.95 years. The APACHE III score was right skewed with a mean of 36.97 and a median of 31. There was a significant difference between the APACHE III score of low-risk patients and the APACHE III score of high-risk patients (P < .001). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, patients characterized as low risk, as defined by our criteria, had low APACHE III scores and a low likelihood of complications post-STEMI. This low-risk population could potentially be admitted to an intermediate level of care, avoiding the ICU altogether.

Acute right ventricular failure in a patient with nonischemic cardiogenic shock on left-sided mechanical circulatory support.

We report a case of acute right ventricular failure in a patient with cardiogenic shock on left-sided mechanical circulatory support with Impella 5.0. The patient was successfully bridged to heart transplantation using additional right-sided support with Protek Duo. Key learning points of the case include prompt recognition of acute right ventricular failure in patients on left-sided support, early consideration of right-ventricular mechanical support platforms, and timely deployment of right-sided mechanical support.

Beta blockers are associated with lower all-cause mortality among HFpEF patients.

BACKGROUND: The evidence regarding beta blocker (BB) benefit in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains inconclusive, leading to consideration of BB withdrawal in this population. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the association of BB on all-cause mortality in HFpEF patients. METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of 20,206 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) ≥ 50% who were hospitalized with decompensated HF between January 2011 and March 2020. Survival is reported at 30 days, 1 year, and 3 years. A secondary analysis comparing mortality for patients on BB with additional indications including hypertension (HTN), coronary artery disease (CAD), and atrial fibrillation (AF) was completed. Mortality was compared between patients on BB and additional therapies of spironolactone or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEi/ARBs). RESULTS: BB showed lower all-cause mortality at 30 days, 1 year, and 3 years (p < 0.0001). This association with lower all-cause mortality was validated by a supplementary propensity score-matched analysis. At 3 years, there was significant mortality reduction with addition of BB to either spironolactone (p = 0.0359) or ACEi/ARBs (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: In a large single-center retrospective registry, BB use was associated with lower mortality in HFpEF patients with a recent decompensated HF hospitalization. The mortality benefit persisted in those treated with spironolactone or ACEi/ARBs, and in those with AF. This provocative data further highlights the uncertainty of the benefit of BB use in this cohort and calls for re-consideration of BB withdrawal, especially in those tolerating it well, without conclusive, large, and randomized trials showing lack of benefit or harm.

Mid-term clinical outcomes and cardiac function in patients receiving cardiac contractility modulation.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the mid-term clinical and functional cardiac contractility modulation therapy (CCM) recipients in an urban population with heart failure. BACKGROUND: CCM is a non-excitatory electrical therapy for patients with systolic heart failure with NYHA class III symptoms and ejection fraction (EF) 25-45%. How CCM affects a broad range of clinical measures, including diastolic dysfunction (DD) and weight change, is unexplored. METHODS: We reviewed 31 consecutive patients at our center who underwent CCM implant. NYHA class, hospitalizations, ejection fraction (EF), diastolic function, and weight were compared pre- and post-CCM implant. RESULTS: Mean age and follow-up time was 63 ± 10 years and 1.4 ± 0.8 years, respectively. Mean NYHA class improved by 0.97 functional classes (p < 0.001), and improvement occurred in 68% of patients. Mean annualized hospitalizations improved (0.8 ± 0.8 vs. 0.4 ± 1.0 hospitalizations/year, p = 0.048), and after exclusion of a single outlier, change in annualized days hospitalized also improved (total cohort 3.8 ± 4.7 vs. 3.7 ± 14.8 days/year; p = 0.96; after exclusion, 3.8 ± 4.7 vs. 1.1 ± 1.9 days/year, p < 0.001). Mean EF improved by 8% (p = 0.002), and among those with DD pre-CCM, mean DD improvement was 0.8 "grades" (p < 0.001). Mean weight change was 8.5 pounds lost, amounting to 4% of body weight (p = 0.002, p = 0.002, respectively), with 77% of patients having lost weight after CCM. Five patients (16%) experienced procedural complications; incidence skewed toward early implants. CONCLUSION: In an observational cohort, CCM therapy resulted in improvement in NYHA class, hospitalizations, systolic and diastolic function, and weight.

Non-Cardiac Amyloidosis Findings Are Not Increased in African American Carriers of TTR V142I with Heart Failure and/or Arrhythmia.

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a progressive systemic disease involving the extracellular deposition of misfolded transthyretin protein. The hereditary subtype is caused by mutations in the transthyretin (TTR) gene. An estimated 2-3% of individuals of African American (AA) ancestry carry the p.Val142Ile (V142I, also referred to as V122I) TTR pathogenic variant. The non-specific clinical nature of ATTR-CM makes it challenging to diagnose clinically, and the high allele frequency of TTR V142I suggests that many patients with hereditary ATTR-CM may not have been tested. An analysis of electronic health record data from over 13,000 AA patients with a diagnostic code for heart disease or arrhythmia who also had additional amyloid-related findings were not diagnosed with amyloidosis at higher rates than those with heart failure or arrhythmia who did not have additional amyloid-related clinical diagnoses. Similarly, after genotyping 666 AA patients with heart failure or arrhythmia, TTR V142I carriers appeared to be clinically indistinguishable based on amyloid-related non-cardiac diagnoses from those who did not carry the allele. No additional TTR gene sequence variants were found in the TTR wildtype V142V patients with heart failure or arrhythmia who had additional amyloid-related diagnoses. Genetic testing for ATTR-CM may be important for timely diagnosis.

Utilization of cardiac graft with single coronary artery for orthotopic heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Anomalous coronary arteries arise in a small subset of the population, with each configuration conveying a varying degree of long-term risk. The utilization of cardiac grafts with these anomalies have not been well described. CASE PRESENTATION: An anomalous single coronary artery with the left main coronary artery arising from the right coronary ostium was discovered in a 40-year old male evaluated for cardiac donation. After evaluation, this heart was successfully procured and utilized for orthotopic heart transplantation. CONCLUSION: In this report, we demonstrate that in select cases, a cardiac graft with single coronary artery anatomy can be successfully procured and transplanted with excellent outcomes.

An examination of cardiovascular intensive care unit mortality based on admission day and time.

BACKGROUND: Recent interest in the 'weekend effect' has been expanded to cardiovascular intensive care units, yet the impact of off-hours admission on mortality and cardiovascular ICU (CICU) length of stay remains uncertain. OBJECTIVES: We examine the association between CICU admission day and time with mortality. Additionally, length-of-stay was also evaluated in relation to admission time. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted including 10,638 adult patients admitted to a CICU in a tertiary-care academic medical center from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2019. ICU mortality and length-of-stay were assessed by admission day and time adjusting for comorbid conditions and other clinical variables. We used logistic regression models to evaluate the factors associated with mortality and a generalized linear model (GLM) with log link function and gamma distribution was used to evaluate the factors associated with ICU length of stay. RESULTS: Compared to weekday-day admissions, we observed an increased mortality for weekend-day for all admissions (6.5 vs 9.6%, Adjusted OR: 1.32 (1.03-1.72)), and for medical CICU admissions (7.6 vs 9.9%, Adjusted OR: 1.35 (1.02-1.79)). Additionally, compared to weekday-day, weekday-night admission was associated with 7% longer ICU length of stay in surgical ICU patients, 7% shorter length of stay in medical ICU patients. CONCLUSION: Admission to this open-model CICU during weekend hours (Saturday 08:00-Sunday 17:59) versus nights or weekdays is associated with increased mortality. ICU staffing care models should not significantly change based on the day of the week.

Outcomes of systemic anticoagulation with bivalirudin for Impella 5.0.

Temporary mechanical circulatory support (tMCS) devices are used for the management of cardiogenic shock. The Impella 5.0 (Abiomed; Danvers, MA) (IMP5) is a commonly used, surgically implanted, tMCS device that requires systemic anticoagulation and purge solution to avoid pump failure. To avoid heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) from unfractionated heparin (UFH) use, our program has explored the utility of bivalirudin (BIV) for systemic anticoagulation in IMP5. This single center, retrospective study included patients supported on IMP5 with BIV based AC. The efficacy and safety end points were recovery, bridge to left ventricular assist device (LVAD), cardiac transplant (HTX), or death as well as clinically significant bleeding, incidence of Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) use for suspected pump thrombosis, stroke, and device failure. There were 31 patients included, and 26 (84%) received BIV purge solutions. The median duration of IMP5 was 6 (IQR 4-10) days. Most patients were bridged to LVAD (39%, 12); 16% (5) were bridged to HTX, 16% (5) recovered, and 29% (9) died. One patient (3%) suffered from ischemic stroke and 12% (4) patients developed clinically significant bleeding. tPA was administered to 8 (26%) patients. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that duration of IMP5 was a significant predictor of tPA use (OR 1.28; 95% Confidence Interval 1.04-1.56). There were no cases of pump failure. Our experience highlights the feasibility of utilizing BIV for routine AC use in IMP5.

Oxygen Therapy in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Oxygen therapy is frequently used for patients with acute myocardial infarction. The aim of this study is to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the outcomes of oxygen therapy versus no oxygen therapy in post-acute myocardial infarction settings. METHODS: A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted for randomized studies, which reported cardiovascular events in oxygen versus no oxygen therapy. The evaluated outcomes were all-cause mortality, recurrent coronary events (ischemia or myocardial infarction), heart failure, and arrhythmias. Summary-adjusted risk ratios (RRs) were calculated by the random effects DerSimonian and Laird model. The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed by Cochrane scale. RESULTS: Our meta-analysis included a total of 7 studies with 3842 patients who received oxygen therapy and 3860 patients without oxygen therapy. Oxygen therapy did not decrease the risk of all-cause mortality (pooled RR, 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81-1.21; P = .43), recurrent ischemia or myocardial infarction (pooled RR, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.95-1.48; P = .75), heart failure (pooled RR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.61-1.45; P = .348), and occurrence of arrhythmia events (pooled RR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.85-1.2; P = .233) compared with the no oxygen arm. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis confirms the lack of benefit of routine oxygen therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction with normal oxygen saturation levels.