Depression and health-care costs during the first year following myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: Depression in the hospital after myocardial infarction (MI) has been associated with a substantial increase in the long-term risk of cardiac mortality, but little is known about other outcomes. This study uses Quebec Medicare data to examine the relationship between post-MI depression and physician costs, including both out-patient care and hospital readmissions. METHODS: The sample consists of 848 1-year survivors of an acute MI who had completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in hospital. Two hundred sixty subjects had BDI scores of >/=10 (30.7%), indicative of mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Quebec Medicare data during the index admission for an acute MI and during the year following discharge were compared for the patients with elevated BDI scores and those with normal scores. RESULTS: Total costs, in Canadian dollars (out-patient physician charges plus physician costs during admissions plus estimates of associated direct costs), were about 41% higher (p = 0.004) for patients with elevated BDI scores. The difference was primarily related to out-patient and emergency room visits and readmission costs associated with longer stays in hospital wards, and was not accounted for by use of psychiatric services or readmissions for revascularization. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that, in addition to the survival risks associated with post-MI depression, there are increased health care costs linked to both readmissions and out-patient contacts among depressed patients who survive the first post-MI year. The extent to which the increased use of health care may have reduced depression and enhanced survival remains unclear.

Clinical trials of coronary revascularization: coronary angioplasty vs. coronary bypass grafting.

In the absence of diabetes mellitus, rates of survival and of survival free of myocardial infarction (MI) are almost identical among patients with multivessel disease assigned to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) versus those assigned to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) after 6.5 to 8 year follow-up period. Additional revascularization occurs 2.5 to 4.5 times more frequently in PTCA-treated than in CABG-treated patients and prevalence of angina is no longer statistically different between the two treatment groups. The excess health care costs of bypass surgery, which are important early after revascularization, almost disappear 5 to 8 years later. In patients with single vessel disease, survival free of MI is also comparable in both treatment groups at 5 years. Additional revasculariztion occurs two to four times more often in PTCA-treated than in CABG-treated patients and prevalence of angina does not differ between the two treatment groups. Thus, in nondiabetic patients with multivessel disease, the choice of a revascularization strategy rests on the patient's and treating physician's preference between the invasive nature of bypass surgery and the risk of recurrent procedures. In patients with single vessel disease, these long-term data suggest that bypass surgery is at least as safe and effective as coronary angioplasty and therefore may be a treatment option in selected cases.

Cost estimates for treatment of cardiac ischemia (from the Asymptomatic Cardiac Ischemia Pilot [ACIP] study).

Costs for management of myocardial ischemia are enormous, yet comparison cost and outcome data for various ischemia treatment strategies from randomized trials are lacking and will require cost and resource utilization data from a large prospective trial. The Asymptomatic Cardiac Ischemia Pilot provided feasibility data for planning such a trial and an opportunity to estimate the long-term costs of different treatment strategies. Economic implications for ischemia management were compared in 558 patients with stable coronary artery disease and myocardial ischemia during both stress testing and daily life. Participants were randomized to 3 different initial treatment strategies and followed for 2 years. Based on cost trends over follow-up, costs for subsequent care were estimated. As expected, due to initial procedural costs, at 3 months, estimated costs for revascularization were approximately 10 times greater than costs for a medical care strategy. Extrapolated costs for anticipated resource consumption for care beyond 2 years, however, were approximately 2 times greater for an initial medical care strategy than for initial revascularization. This was due to increased need for drugs and hospitalizations for both late revascularizations and other ischemia-related events. Estimated costs for anticipated care in the medical strategies reached the anticipated cost of the revascularization strategy within 10 years. Because this cost-equal time period is well within the median life expectancy for such a patient population, these findings could have important public health implications and require testing in a full-scale prognosis trial. We anticipate that over the patients' life expectancy, early revascularization is likely to become either cost-neutral or cost-effective.

Costs and effects of enalapril therapy in patients with symptomatic heart failure: an economic analysis of the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) Treatment Trial.

The clinical results of the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) Treatment Trial have been published previously, but no evaluation of cost-effectiveness based on the primary data has been reported. The authors used a decision analytic model based on primary data from SOLVD to estimate years of survival (overall, by New York Heart Association Class, and quality-adjusted) and to estimate costs of nonfatal hospitalizations, ambulatory care, therapy with enalapril, and deaths. Clinical and resource utilization data were derived from participants in SOLVD, and cost data were derived from the United States. Therapy with enalapril during the approximate 48-month follow-up period in SOLVD resulted in a gain of 0.16 year of life and savings of dollars 718. During the patient's lifetime, a survival benefit of 0.40 year, a cost per year of life saved of dollars 80, and a cost per quality-adjusted life year of dollars 115 with the use of enalapril were projected. The results indicated a net savings and gain in life expectancy during the SOLVD treatment trial. The lifetime projection suggests that therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, such as enalapril, is extremely attractive when compared with many commonly used interventions in patients with cardiovascular disease or heart failure.

Better functional status in American than Canadian patients with heart disease: an effect of medical care?

OBJECTIVES: This study compared functional status in Americans and Canadians with and without prior symptoms of heart disease to separate the effects of medical care from nonmedical factors. BACKGROUND: Coronary angiography and revascularization are used more often in the United States than in Canada, yet rates of mortality and myocardial infarction are similar in the two countries. Recent data suggest that functional status after myocardial infarction is better among Americans than Canadians, but it is uncertain whether this difference is due to medical care or nonmedical factors. METHODS: Quality of life was measured in patients enrolled in seven American and one Canadian site in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation. Prior symptoms of heart disease were defined as angina, myocardial infarction or congestive heart failure before the episode of illness leading to randomization. Functional status was measured with the Duke Activity Status Index and overall emotional and social health using Medical Outcome Study measures on the basis of patient status before the index episode of acute ischemic heart disease. RESULTS: Quality of life was generally better in the 934 Americans than in the 278 Canadians, with overall health rated as excellent or very good in 30% of Americans versus 20% of Canadians (p = 0.0001), higher median Duke Activity Status Index scores (16 vs. 13.5, p = 0.03) but equivalent emotional health (76 vs. 76, p = 0.74) and social health scores (100 vs. 80, p = 0.07). Among the 350 patients without prior symptoms of heart disease, Americans and Canadians had similar overall health, Duke Activity Status Index and emotional and social health scores. However, of the 860 patients with previous symptoms of heart disease, Americans had higher overall health (p = 0.0001) and Duke Activity Status Index scores (p = 0.0008) but similar emotional and social health scores. The results were essentially unchanged after statistical adjustment for potential confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: The functional status of patients without prior symptoms of heart disease is similar in Americans and Canadians. However, among patients with previous symptomatic heart disease, functional status is higher in Americans than in Canadians. This difference may be due to different patterns of medical management of heart disease in the two countries.

Assessment of left ventricular function using digital angiography.

We have demonstrated that selective digital left ventricular angiography using small amounts of contrast material minimized both symptoms and hemodynamic alterations and provided good images for assessment of regional ventricular function. However, comparisons of ejection fraction (EF), end-systolic volume (ESV), and end-diastolic volume (EDV) from digital angiography, at 10 frames per second, with measurements derived from conventional angiography, showed only a fair correlation between the two methods. Using a new generation of digital equipment and an acquisition time of 30 frames per second, we studied the correlation between digital and conventional angiography in 29 patients with coronary artery disease for a wide spectrum of left ventricular functions. Ventricular volumes and EF were calculated by computer using the area-length method. The correlation coefficient (r) between both the methods was 0.93 for EF, 0.95 for ESV and 0.89 for EDV. Thus digital left ventricular angiography provides an accurate evaluation of left ventricular function and can with advantage replace conventional angiography for this purpose.

Clinical and angiographic assessment 6 months after double vessel percutaneous coronary angioplasty.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is an accepted treatment for selected patients with single vessel disease but has not been rigorously evaluated in patients with double vessel disease. Among 769 patients undergoing transluminal coronary angioplasty between 1980 and 1984, 74 with double vessel stenosis of 50% or more underwent double vessel coronary angioplasty. Primary success was obtained for both lesions in 63 patients (85%), for one lesion in 11 patients (15%) and for 137 (93%) of 148 segments overall. Except for myocardial infarction in one patient, no serious complication occurred. Before coronary angioplasty, 15 patients had unstable angina, 14 had Canadian Cardiovascular Society class III and 32 class I to II effort angina and only 2 were asymptomatic. Six months after coronary angioplasty, 27 were asymptomatic, 27 had class I to II and 5 had class III effort angina and 2 had sustained an episode of unstable angina. During the follow-up study, two patients had an infarction and one had coronary artery bypass surgery. Coronary arteriography was performed at a mean of 5.5 +/- 2.1 months after coronary angioplasty in all but three patients. Restenosis was found in 30 (23%) of 132 segments with angiographic control. Restenosis was present in one vessel in 17 patients and in both vessels in 4; 40 patients (66%) had no restenosis. Of the 34 patients with definite or probable angina, 50% had restenosis and 19% of patients with restenosis were symptom free.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Socioeconomic benefits of coronary dilatation]. / Bénéfices socio-économiques de la dilatation coronaire.

The socioeconomic benefits of coronary artery dilatation to the individual and the society in general, were assessed in a review of our first 158 cases in which we studied the length of in-patient treatment, the period off work and the number of patients returning to work after six months and one year. The population included 114 men and 44 women with an average age of 50 +/- 10 years, a history of anginal pain of 18.10 +/- 26.13 months, and of resistant angina of 4.33 +/- 5.72 months. Only one artery was diseased in 130 patients (82%), the remaining patients having multivessel disease. Left ventricular function was normal in 76% of the patients under study. Fifteen patients had already finished working at the time of dilatation and were excluded from the study. One hundred and nineteen (84%) of the 142 patients followed-up were still working before dilatation and 112 (79%) returned to work after 6 months. Of the 94 patients with a good initial result of dilatation, 76 returned to work (81%); 12 initial failures were treated medically, and 6 (50%) returned to work (p less than 0.05); 36 initial failures underwent aorto-coronary bypass surgery and 30.83% are back at work. At one year, 89% of the 103 patients followed-up were working, whilst only 83% of this subgroup were working before dilatation. The 91% of the 69 initial successes have returned to work; 71% of the 7 failures treated medically and 95% of the 27 failures who then underwent bypass surgery, have also returned to work.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Rehabilitation and return to work of patients after aortocoronary bypass]. / Réhabilitation et retour au travail des malades après pontage aorto-coronarien.

A pilot project with medical, physical and psychosocial evaluation and a physical and psychosocial rehabilitation program included 59 men, under age 60, inactive for less than one year and who underwent aortocoronary bypass surgery between november 1978 and march 1980. A control group of 60 comparable patients was studied by questionnaire one year after the operation. The percentage of return-to-work was not significatively different: respectively 92 p. 100 and 89 p. 100. A previous study on a similar population determined 9 predictive sociodemographic and medical factors: age, angina class, duration of symptoms, associated vascular disease, non cardiovascular illness, education, physical workload, length of preoperative unemployment, annual income. The evaluations of this study showed the importance of the psychosocial factors and alcoholism. In comparison with our previous studies, the increased percentage of return-to-work (from 69 p. 100 to 89 p. 100) is mostly due to a shorter preoperative period of inactivity; the percentage of patients operated on within three months of inactivity increased from 44 p. 100 to 74 p. 100 in the last ten years. In the group of patients with a good or excellent preoperative prognosis, 94 p. 100 were working after one year. We conclude that a strategy for improving return-to-work after surgery is to decrease the period of preoperative inactivity. By using nine objective predictive factors and a psychosocial evaluation, it is possible to screen patients with a poor return-to-work prognosis and to submit them to an individualized rehabilitation program.

Coronary artery surgery as a measure of vocational rehabilitation: an analysis of the working status of patients with mild angina randomly assigned to medical or surgical treatment.

Work status was studied in 76 male patients under the age of 60, who had been randomly assigned to surgical or medical treatment for coronary artery disease with relatively stable angina (Class I or II NYHA) One year after catheterization or surgery, there were as many patients employed in the medical (84%) as in the surgical (81%) groups, despite a marked improvement of functional symptoms in the latter group; 8% in surgical patients and 11% in medical patients were on social welfare. Surgery did not improve work resumption in patients who had been unemployed for seven months or more before inclusion into the study (71%, versus 67% in medical patients). It is concluded that aorto-coronary bypass surgery cannot be considered as a measure of vocational rehabilitation sufficient to improve employment in patients with mild stable angina, when compared to medical treatment.

Strategies for improving the work status of patients after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Postoperative work status was evaluated by follow-up questionnaire in 326 men who underwent coronary bypass graft surgery (CABG) between September 1969 and December 1972 (mean follow-up 30 months) and in 1217 men younger than age 60 years operated upon between January 1973 and June 1978 (mean follow-up 36 months). Work status was also assessed 1 year after operation in 59 men younger than age 60 years enrolled in a pilot rehabilitation program between November 1978 and March 1980 and in 62 comparable patients who underwent CABG during the same period but did not participate in the program. The percentage of patients working at completion of follow-up was 58% in the first survey, 61% in the second survey, 86% in the pilot study and 82% in the control group. The percentages of patients who resumed work during follow-up were 69%, 76%, 92% and 89% in the respective groups. This improvement was related primarily to a shorter period of preoperative unemployment; the percentage of patients operated on after less than 3 months of inactivity increased from 20% between 1969 and 1972, to 50% between 1973 and 1978, to 84% in 1979-1980. The prognosis for return to work was influenced, in order of predictive value, by the length of preoperative unemployment, type of physical activity in preoperative occupation, noncardiovascular illness, education, anginal class and duration of symptoms. Of patients with a good or excellent preoperative prognosis, 94% were working 1 year after CABG. We conclude that the working status of patients after CABG is excellent in subgroups with preoperative unemployment of 3 months or less and in a socioeconomic level above poverty; application of an individualized postoperative rehabilitation program should be limited to patients whose prognosis for return to work is poor according to the above predictive factors and the psychosocial evaluation.

Factors predicting working status after aortocoronary bypass surgery.

The working status of 1165 patients aged 59 years or less (mean 49.8 years) was evaluated 7 to 77 months (mean 36 months) after aortocoronary bypass surgery. Although 76% of the patients eventually returned to work, only 56% were working 6 months after their operation. The proportion of patients working peaked at 2 years after the operation (at 66%) and decreased progressively to 56% at 4 years and 53% at 5 years without ever reaching the proportions that applied 12 and 6 months before the operation (84% and 69% respectively). Multivariate analysis identified three socioeconomic and three clinical variables as predicting the working status at 6 months and at yearly points during the first 4 years after the operation. Of the socioeconomic variables analysed, preoperative unemployment of long duration, a preoperative occupation that required strenuous physical effort and a low level of education were, in that order, the strongest predictors of postoperative unemployment. Among the clinical variables, associated noncardiovascular illness and the severity and duration of angina pectoris independently influenced the patients' post-operative working status. The authors conclude that modification of some of these variables should by attempted both before and after aortocoronary bypass surgery to see whether the rate of return to employment after the operation can be improved in selected patients.

Employment following aortocoronary bypass surgery in young patients.

The work status following aortocoronary bypass surgery was evaluated by questionnaire in 268 male patients aged 44 years or less, after a mean follow-up of 38 months. During follow-up, 87% resumed work; when analyzed on a yearly basis, the rate of patients at work peaked at 2 years (80%) and then declined to 70% at 4 years. Multivariate analyses showed that the two most important preoperative variables predictive of work status after surgery were (1) the length of the period of not working, and (2) the educational level. Other influential factors were the presence of an associated vascular disease and the type of work, annual income and functional class. The postoperative health status, as described by the patient, was also closely correlated with return to work. Recurrence of angina after surgery impaired work resumption. A majority of patients who were never gainfully employed after surgery attributed the reason to their physician, while 93% of them stated that they received financial aid from the government.

Noninvasive assessment of aortocoronary bypass graft patency using pulsed Doppler echocardiography.

To evaluate noninvasively aortocoronary bypass graft patency, pulsed Doppler echocardiography was performed at the time of postoperative coronary angiography in 120 consecutive patients. Ultrasonic examination of 163 vein grafts was possible. One hundred twenty-seven patent and 14 occluded grafts were correctly identified. Eleven patent grafts could not be recorded, and 11 occluded grafts were falsely diagnosed as patent. The method had an overall sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 56%. This high sensitivity level may be increased to almost 100% by enhanced technical skill and experience. The low specificity level, although the method must be tested in a larger number of bypass grafts, stresses the importance of correctly identifying other sources of diastolic blood flow. Diastolic flows from the superior vena cava, internal mammary veins, tricuspid valve, mitral valve and right ventricle may be eliminated by careful adjustment of the depth, site and size of the pulsed Doppler electronic sampling gate. Standard echocardiographic landmarks for avoiding confusion with the coronary arteries are also described.