Impact of COVID-19 on percutaneous coronary intervention utilization and mortality in New York.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has disrupted the care of all patients, and little is known about its impact on the utilization and short-term mortality of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients, particularly nonemergency patients. METHODS: New York State's PCI registry was used to study the utilization of PCI and the presence of COVID-19 in four patient subgroups ranging in severity from ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) to elective patients before (December 01, 2018-February 29, 2020) and during the COVID-19 era (March 01, 2020-May 31, 2021), as well as to examine the impact of different COVID severity levels on the mortality of different types of PCI patients. RESULTS: Decreases in the mean quarterly PCI volume from the prepandemic period to the first quarter of the pandemic ranged from 20% for STEMI patients to 61% for elective patients, with the other two subgroups having decreases in between these values. PCI quarterly volume rebounds from the prepandemic period to the second quarter of 2021 were in excess of 90% for all patient subgroups, and 99.7% for elective patients. Existing COVID-19 was rare among PCI patients, ranging from 1.74% for STEMI patients to 3.66% for elective patients. PCI patients with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who were not intubated, and PCI patients with COVID-19 and ARDS who were either intubated or were not intubated because of Do Not Resuscitate//Do Not Intubate status had higher risk-adjusted mortality ([adjusted ORs = 10.81 [4.39, 26.63] and 24.53 [12.06, 49.88], respectively]) than patients who never had COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: There were large decreases in the utilization of PCI during COVID-19, with the percentage of decrease being highly sensitive to patient acuity. By the second quarter of 2021, prepandemic volumes were nearly restored for all patient subgroups. Very few PCI patients had current COVID-19 throughout the pandemic period, but the number of PCI patients with a COVID-19 history increased steadily during the pandemic. PCI patients with COVID-19 accompanied by ARDS were at much higher risk of short-term mortality than patients who never had COVID-19. COVID-19 without ARDS and history of COVID-19 were not associated with higher mortality for PCI patients as of the second quarter of 2021.

Sex differences in the treatment and outcomes of patients hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVES: To compare mortality for women and men hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by age and revascularization status. BACKGROUND: There is little information on the mortality of men and women not undergoing revascularization, and the impact of age on relative male-female mortality needs to be revisited. METHODS AND RESULTS: An observational database of 23,809 patients with STEMI presenting at nonfederal New York State hospitals between 2013 and 2015 was used to compare risk-adjusted inhospital/30-day mortality for women and men and to explore the impact of age on those differences. Women had significantly higher mortality than men overall (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.15, 95% CI [1.04, 1.28]), and among patients aged 65 and older. Women had lower revascularization rates in general (AOR = 0.64 [0.59, 0.69]) and for all age groups. Among revascularized STEMI patients, women overall (AOR = 1.30 [1.10, 1.53]) and over 65 had higher mortality than men. Among patients not revascularized, women between the ages of 45 and 64 had lower mortality (AOR = 0.68 [0.48, 0.97]). CONCLUSIONS: Women with STEMI, and especially older women, had higher inhospital/30-day mortality rates than their male counterparts. Women had higher mortality among revascularized patients, but not among patients who were not revascularized.

Assessment of repeat target lesion percutaneous coronary intervention as a quality measure for public reporting and general quality assessment for PCIs.

BACKGROUND: Target lesion percutaneous coronary intervention (TLPCI) within 1 year of PCI has been proposed by critics of public reporting of short-term mortality as an alternative measure for PCI reporting. METHODS: New York's PCI registry was used to identify 1-year repeat TLPCI and 1-year repeat TLPCI/mortality for patients discharged between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2014. Significant independent predictors of the outcomes were identified. Hospital and cardiologist risk-adjusted outcomes were calculated, and outlier status and correlations of risk-adjusted rates were examined for the three outcomes. RESULTS: The adverse outcome rates were 1.30, 4.21, and 8.97% for in-hospital/30-day mortality, 1-year repeat TLPCI, and 1-year repeat TLPCI/mortality. There were many commonalities but also many differences in significant predictors of the outcomes. Hospital and cardiologist risk-adjusted 1-year repeat TLPCI rates and repeat TLPCI/mortality rates were poorly correlated with risk-adjusted in-hospital/30-day mortality rates (eg, Spearman R = -.16 [p = .23] and .27 [p = .04], respectively, for hospital 1-year repeat TLPCI vs. in-hospital/30-day mortality). Many more providers were found to have significantly higher and lower rates for repeat TLPCI than for short-term mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital and cardiologist quality assessments are very different for TLPCI and repeat TLPCI/mortality than they are for short-term mortality. Repeat TLPCI/mortality rates are highly correlated with repeat TLPCI rates, but outlier providers differ. More study of repeat TLPCI and all the patient, cardiologist, and hospital factors associated with it may be required before using it as a supplement to, or in lieu of, short-term mortality in public reporting of PCI outcomes.

Association of Anesthesiologist Handovers With Short-term Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Complete handover of anesthesia care to a second anesthesiologist has been demonstrated to be associated with worse short-term adverse outcomes among cardiac surgery patients, but little information from multi-institutional studies is available. METHODS: New York's cardiac surgery registry was used to identify patients who underwent cardiac surgery in New York between 2010 and 2016 with and without complete handovers of anesthesia care. A retrospective observational study with inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) based on the propensity score was used to adjust for differences in preoperative patient characteristics while comparing differences in the primary outcome (in-hospital/30 day mortality), major complications in the index admission or within 30 days of the index surgery, readmissions within 30 days, and length of stay. RESULTS: A total of 8.5% of the 103,102 cardiac surgery procedures involved complete handovers. After adjustment, there was a difference between patients with and without handovers in the primary outcome (2.86% vs 2.48%, adjusted risk ratio [ARR] = 1.15 [1.01-1.31]). There was no difference in readmissions within 30 days (13.7% vs 14.4%, ARR = 0.95 [0.90-1.00]), and the differences in complications and length of stay were not clinically meaningful (adjusted differences of <10%). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac surgery patients in New York who had complete anesthesia handovers experienced higher short-term mortality rates, but there were no meaningful differences in other outcomes. Unnecessary handovers should be carefully monitored.

Retooling of Paper-based Outcome Measures to Electronic Format: Comparison of the NY State Public Risk Model and EHR-derived Risk Models for CABG Mortality.

BACKGROUND: Risk adjustment is critical in the comparison of quality of care and health care outcomes for providers. Electronic health records (EHRs) have the potential to eliminate the need for costly and time-consuming manual data abstraction of patient outcomes and risk factors necessary for risk adjustment. METHODS: Leading EHR vendors and hospital focus groups were asked to review risk factors in the New York State (NYS) coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery statistical models for mortality and readmission and assess feasibility of EHR data capture. Risk models based only on registry data elements that can be captured by EHRs (one for easily obtained data and one for data obtained with more difficulty) were developed and compared with the NYS models for different years. RESULTS: Only 6 data elements could be extracted from the EHR, and outlier hospitals differed substantially for readmission but not for mortality. At the patient level, measures of fit and predictive ability indicated that the EHR models are inferior to the NYS CABG surgery risk model [eg, c-statistics of 0.76 vs. 0.71 (P<0.001) and 0.76 vs. 0.74 (P=0.009) for mortality in 2010], although the correlation of the predicted probabilities between the NYS and EHR models was high, ranging from 0.96 to 0.98. CONCLUSIONS: A simplified risk model using EHR data elements could not capture most of the risk factors in the NYS CABG surgery risk models, many outlier hospitals were different for readmissions, and patient-level measures of fit were inferior.

Everolimus-eluting stents or bypass surgery for multivessel coronary disease.

BACKGROUND: Results of trials and registry studies have shown lower long-term mortality after coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) than after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) among patients with multivessel disease. These previous analyses did not evaluate PCI with second-generation drug-eluting stents. METHODS: In an observational registry study, we compared the outcomes in patients with multivessel disease who underwent CABG with the outcomes in those who underwent PCI with the use of everolimus-eluting stents. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were the rates of myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeat revascularization. Propensity-score matching was used to assemble a cohort of patients with similar baseline characteristics. RESULTS: Among 34,819 eligible patients, 9223 patients who underwent PCI with everolimus-eluting stents and 9223 who underwent CABG had similar propensity scores and were included in the analyses. At a mean follow-up of 2.9 years, PCI with everolimus-eluting stents, as compared with CABG, was associated with a similar risk of death (3.1% per year and 2.9% per year, respectively; hazard ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93 to 1.17; P=0.50), higher risks of myocardial infarction (1.9% per year vs. 1.1% per year; hazard ratio, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.29 to 1.77; P<0.001) and repeat revascularization (7.2% per year vs. 3.1% per year; hazard ratio, 2.35; 95% CI, 2.14 to 2.58; P<0.001), and a lower risk of stroke (0.7% per year vs. 1.0% per year; hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.50 to 0.76; P<0.001). The higher risk of myocardial infarction with PCI than with CABG was not significant among patients with complete revascularization but was significant among those with incomplete revascularization (P=0.02 for interaction). CONCLUSIONS: In a contemporary clinical-practice registry study, the risk of death associated with PCI with everolimus-eluting stents was similar to that associated with CABG. PCI was associated with a higher risk of myocardial infarction (among patients with incomplete revascularization) and repeat revascularization but a lower risk of stroke. (Funded by Abbott Vascular.).

Comparison of 5-year outcomes of paclitaxel-eluting and endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stents in New York.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate long-term outcomes in patients undergoing either paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) or endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stents (E-ZES) placement and to assess comparative effectiveness of PES vs. E-ZES in different "off-label" and "high-risk" patient subgroups. BACKGROUND: PES and E-ZES are frequently used in percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). However, the long-term comparative effectiveness of PES vs. E-ZES in real practice is unknown. METHODS: We created a longitudinal database by linking the New York State (NYS) cardiac registries, the NYS hospital discharge file, the National Death Index, and the U.S. Census file for patients undergoing either PES or E-ZES placement from July 2008 through December 2009. All-cause mortality, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), target lesion PCI (TLPCI), and target vessel coronary artery bypass graft (TVCABG) surgery were compared for 9,264 propensity score matched patients for a 5-year follow-up period using the Kaplan-Meier method with further adjustment using Cox proportional hazards regression. RESULTS: We did not detect significant differences between E-ZES and PES (reference) in 5-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio : 1.02, 95% confidence interval : 0.91-1.14), AMI (AHR: 1.05, 95% CI: 0.90-1.22), TLPCI (AHR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.86-1.13), and TVCABG (AHR, 1.07, 95% CI: 0.84-1.36). For six "off-label" and two "high-risk" subpopulations, we had similar findings for the two stent groups. CONCLUSION: NYS observational data suggest that 5-year outcomes are comparable in patients receiving either PES or E-ZES placement, mirroring the findings of recent clinical trials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Four-year comparative effectiveness of bare-metal and everolimus-eluting stents in New York.

OBJECTIVES: To study four-year outcomes for patients receiving either bare-metal stents (BMS) or everolimus-eluting stents (EES) and to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of BMS versus EES in six "off-label" and two "high-risk" patient subgroups. BACKGROUND: BMS and EES (a second generation of drug-eluting stent) are used in contemporary practice to treat coronary artery disease. However, little is known about long-term comparative effectiveness between BMS and EES. METHODS: Using the New York State (NYS) cardiac registries, statewide hospital discharge data, the National Death Index, and the U.S. Census file, we assessed four-year outcomes of BMS versus EES in patients receiving either BMS or EES from July 2008 through December 2009. The outcomes included all-cause mortality, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), target-lesion PCI (TLPCI), and target-vessel coronary artery bypass graft (TVCABG) surgery for a follow-up period of four years (median follow-up of 3.6 years). We compared 9,290 propensity score matched pairs with further adjustment using Cox proportional hazards regression. RESULTS: Compared with patients receiving BMS, patients receiving EES had a lower rate of four-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio : 0.58, 95% confidence interval : 0.54-0.63), AMI (AHR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.61-0.76), TLPCI (AHR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.60-0.75), and TVCABG (AHR, 0.53, 95% CI: 0.43-0.65). For "off-label" and "high-risk" subgroups, EES was associated with decreased mortality and generally better AMI, TLPCI, and TVCABG outcomes relative to BMS. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with BMS use, EES use was associated with better four-year outcomes.

Revascularization in Patients With Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease and Severe Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction: Everolimus-Eluting Stents Versus Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines recommend coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) over percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for multivessel disease and severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction. However, CABG has not been compared with PCI in such patients in randomized trials. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with multivessel disease and severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction ≤35%) who underwent either PCI with everolimus-eluting stent or CABG were selected from the New York State registries. The primary outcome was long-term all-cause death. Secondary outcomes were individual outcomes of myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeat revascularization. Among the 4616 patients who fulfilled our inclusion criteria (1351 everolimus-eluting stent and 3265 CABG), propensity score matching identified 2126 patients with similar propensity scores. In the short term, PCI was associated with a lower risk of stroke (hazard ratio [HR], 0.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01-0.39; P=0.004) in comparison with CABG. At long-term follow-up (median, 2.9 years), PCI was associated with a similar risk of death (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.81-1.28; P=0.91), a higher risk of myocardial infarction (HR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.42-3.28; P=0.0003), a lower risk of stroke (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.33-0.97; P=0.04), and a higher risk of repeat revascularization (HR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.88-3.44; P<0.0001). The test for interaction was significant (P=0.002) for completeness of revascularization, such that, in patients in whom complete revascularization was achieved with PCI, there was no difference in myocardial infarction between PCI and CABG. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with multivessel disease and severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction, PCI with everolimus-eluting stent had comparable long-term survival in comparison with CABG. PCI was associated with higher risk of myocardial infarction (in those with incomplete revascularization) and repeat revascularization, and CABG was associated with higher risk of stroke.

Incomplete revascularization for percutaneous coronary interventions: Variation among operators, and association with operator and hospital characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have compared outcomes for incomplete revascularization (IR) among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), but little is known about the correlates of IR, the extent to which complete revascularization (CR) was attempted unsuccessfully, and the variation across operators in the use of IR. METHODS: New York's PCI registry was used to examine medium-term mortality for IR, the variables associated with the use of IR, and the variation across operators in the utilization of IR after controlling for patient factors. RESULTS: Incomplete revascularization occurred for 63% of all patients and was significantly associated with higher 3-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio1.35, 95% CI 1.23-1.48) than for CR. A total of 96% of all attempted CRs were successful. Operators with 15 or fewer years in practice (the lowest half) used IR significantly more (65% vs 61%, adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.17, 95% CI 1.00-1.37) than other operators, and operators with annual volumes of 171 or lower (the lowest 3 quartiles) used IR more than other operators (68% vs 60%, AOR 1.35, 95% CI 1.14-1.59). Also, hospitals with annual volumes of 645 and lower (the lowest 50% of hospitals) used IR more (67% vs 62%, AOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.07-1.99) than other hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous coronary intervention patients without myocardial infarction who undergo IR continue to have higher medium-term (3-year) risk-adjusted mortality rates. There is a large amount of variability among operators in the frequency with which IR occurs. Operators who have been in practice longer, and higher-volume operators and hospitals have lower rates of IR. Failed attempts at CR occur very infrequently.

Appending Limited Clinical Data to an Administrative Database for Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients: The Impact on the Assessment of Hospital Quality.

BACKGROUND: Hospitals' risk-standardized mortality rates and outlier status (significantly higher/lower rates) are reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients using Medicare claims data. New York now has AMI claims data with blood pressure and heart rate added. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to see whether the appended database yields different hospital assessments than standard claims data. METHODS: New York State clinically appended claims data for AMI were used to create 2 different risk models based on CMS methods: 1 with and 1 without the added clinical data. Model discrimination was compared, and differences between the models in hospital outlier status and tertile status were examined. RESULTS: Mean arterial pressure and heart rate were both significant predictors of mortality in the clinically appended model. The C statistic for the model with the clinical variables added was significantly higher (0.803 vs. 0.773, P<0.001). The model without clinical variables identified 10 low outliers and all of them were percutaneous coronary intervention hospitals. When clinical variables were included in the model, only 6 of those 10 hospitals were low outliers, but there were 2 new low outliers. The model without clinical variables had only 3 high outliers, and the model with clinical variables included identified 2 new high outliers. CONCLUSION: Appending even a small number of clinical data elements to administrative data resulted in a difference in the assessment of hospital mortality outliers for AMI. The strategy of adding limited but important clinical data elements to administrative datasets should be considered when evaluating hospital quality for procedures and other medical conditions.

Comparison of 4.5-Year Outcomes of Bare-Metal and Zotarolimus-Eluting Stents in New York.

BACKGROUND: Both bare-metal stents (BMS; the first-generation coronary stent) and zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES; a second-generation drug-eluting stent [DES]) have been widely utilized to treat coronary heart disease. However, the long-term comparative effectiveness of BMS and ZES remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate long-term comparative effectiveness of BMS versus ZES. METHODS: We created a longitudinal database by linking the New York State (NYS) cardiac registries, statewide hospital discharge data, the National Death Index (NDI), and the U.S. Census file (2010) for patients receiving either BMS or ZES during the 2008-2009 period. We examined the rates of all-cause mortality, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), target-lesion PCI (TLPCI), and target-vessel coronary artery bypass graft (TVCABG) surgery for a follow-up period of 4.5 years. A total of 10,443 propensity score matched pairs were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression adjusting for patient risk factors. RESULTS: We found that patients receiving ZES had a lower rate of 4.5-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio AHR: 0.68, 95% confidence interval CI: 0.63-0.73), AMI (AHR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.98), and TVCABG (AHR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.71-0.99) but a similar rate of TLPCI (AHR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.93-1.12). For "off-label" and "high-risk" subgroups, ZES was associated with improved mortality and generally better or non-inferior AMI, TLPCI, and TVCABG outcomes relative to BMS. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with BMS, ZES was associated with lower long-term mortality, AMI and TVCABG. (J Interven Cardiol 2016;29:265-274).

Feasibility of Report Cards for Measuring Anesthesiologist Quality for Cardiac Surgery.

BACKGROUND: In creating the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, Congress has mandated pay-for-performance (P4P) for all physicians, including anesthesiologists. There are currently no National Quality Forum-endorsed risk-adjusted outcome metrics for anesthesiologists to use as the basis for P4P. METHODS: Using clinical data from the New York State Cardiac Surgery Reporting System, we conducted a retrospective observational study of 55,436 patients undergoing cardiac surgery between 2009 and 2012. Hierarchical logistic regression modeling was used to examine the variation in in-hospital mortality or major complications (Q-wave myocardial infarction, renal failure, stroke, and respiratory failure) among anesthesiologists, controlling for patient demographics, severity of disease, comorbidities, and hospital quality. RESULTS: Although the variation in performance among anesthesiologists was statistically significant (P = 0.025), none of the anesthesiologists in the sample was classified as a high- or low-performance outliers. The contribution of anesthesiologists to outcomes represented 0.51% of the overall variability in patient outcomes (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.0051; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.002-0.014), whereas the contribution of hospitals to patient outcomes was 2.90% (ICC = 0.029; 95% CI, 0.017-0.050). The anesthesiologist median odds ratio (MOR) was 1.13 (95% CI, 1.08-1.24), suggesting that the variation between anesthesiologist was modest, whereas the hospital MOR was 1.35 (95% CI, 1.25-1.48). In a separate analysis, the contribution of surgeons to overall outcomes represented 1.76% of the overall variability in patient outcomes (ICC = 0.018, 95% CI, 0.010-0.031), and the surgeon MOR was 1.26 (95% CI, 1.19-1.37). Twelve of the surgeons were identified as performance outliers. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of anesthesiologists on the total variability in cardiac surgical outcomes was probably about one-fourth as large as the surgeons' contribution. None of the anesthesiologists caring for cardiac surgical patients in New York State over a 3+ year period were identified as performance outliers. The use of a performance metric based on death or major complications for P4P may not be feasible for cardiac anesthesiologists.

Assessing hospital performance for acute myocardial infarction: how should emergency department transfers be attributed.

BACKGROUND: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publicly reports risk-standardized mortality rates (RSMRs) to assess quality of care for hospitals that treat acute myocardial infarction patients, and the outcomes for inpatient transfers are attributed to transferring hospitals. However, emergency department (ED) transfers are currently ignored and therefore attributed to receiving hospitals. METHODS: New York State administrative data were used to develop a statistical model similar to the one used by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to risk-adjust hospital 30-day mortality rates. RSMRs were calculated and outliers were identified when ED transfers were attributed to: (1) the transferring hospital and (2) the receiving hospital. Differences in hospital outlier status and RSMR tertile between the 2 attribution methods were noted for hospitals performing and not performing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs). RESULTS: Although both methods of attribution identified 3 high outlier non-PCI hospitals, only 2 of those hospitals were identified by both methods, and each method identified a different hospital as a third outlier. Also, when transfers were attributed to the referring hospital, 1 non-PCI hospital was identified as a low outlier, and no non-PCI hospitals were identified as a low outlier with the other attribution method. About one sixth of all hospitals changed their tertile status. Most PCI hospitals (89%) that changed status moved to a higher (worse RSMR) tertile, whereas the majority of non-PCI hospitals (68%) that changed status were moved to a lower (better) RSMR tertile when ED transfers were attributed to the referring hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital quality assessments for acute myocardial infarction are affected by whether ED transfers are assigned to the transferring or receiving hospital. The pros and cons of this choice should be considered.

The impact of anesthesiologists on coronary artery bypass graft surgery outcomes.

BACKGROUND: One of every 150 hospitalized patients experiences a lethal adverse event; nearly half of these events involves surgical patients. Although variations in surgeon performance and quality have been reported in the literature, less is known about the influence of anesthesiologists on outcomes after major surgery. Our goal of this study was to determine whether there is significant variation in outcomes between anesthesiologists after controlling for patient case mix and hospital quality. METHODS: Using clinical data from the New York State Cardiac Surgery Reporting System, we conducted a retrospective observational study of 7920 patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was used to examine the variation in death or major complications (Q-wave myocardial infarction, renal failure, stroke) across anesthesiologists, controlling for patient demographics, severity of disease, comorbidities, and hospital quality. RESULTS: Anesthesiologist performance was quantified using fixed-effects modeling. The variability across anesthesiologists was highly significant (P < 0.001). Patients managed by low-performance anesthesiologists (corresponding to the 25th percentile of the distribution of anesthesiologist risk-adjusted outcomes) experienced nearly twice the rate of death or serious complications (adjusted rate 3.33%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.09%-3.58%) as patients managed by high-performance anesthesiologists (corresponding to the 75th percentile) (adjusted rate 1.82%; 95% CI, 1.58%-2.10%). This performance gap was observed across all patient risk groups. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of death or major complications among patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery varies markedly across anesthesiologists. These findings suggest that there may be opportunities to improve perioperative management to improve outcomes among high-risk surgical patients.

Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Predictive Models for Outcomes After Congenital Heart Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Despite documented associations between social determinants of health and outcomes post-congenital heart surgery, clinical risk models typically exclude these factors. OBJECTIVES: The study sought to characterize associations between social determinants and operative and longitudinal mortality as well as assess impacts on risk model performance. METHODS: Demographic and clinical data were obtained for all congenital heart surgeries (2006-2021) from locally held Congenital Heart Surgery Collaborative for Longitudinal Outcomes and Utilization of Resources Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database data. Neighborhood-level American Community Survey and composite sociodemographic measures were linked by zip code. Model prediction, discrimination, and impact on quality assessment were assessed before and after inclusion of social determinants in models based on the 2020 Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database Mortality Risk Model. RESULTS: Of 14,173 total index operations across New York State, 12,321 cases, representing 10,271 patients at 8 centers, had zip codes for linkage. A total of 327 (2.7%) patients died in the hospital or before 30 days, and 314 children died by December 31, 2021 (total n = 641; 6.2%). Multiple measures of social determinants of health explained as much or more variability in operative and longitudinal mortality than clinical comorbidities or prior cardiac surgery. Inclusion of social determinants minimally improved models' predictive performance (operative: 0.834-0.844; longitudinal 0.808-0.811), but significantly improved model discrimination; 10.0% more survivors and 4.8% more mortalities were appropriately risk classified with inclusion. Wide variation in reclassification was observed by site, resulting in changes in the center performance classification category for 2 of 8 centers. CONCLUSIONS: Although indiscriminate inclusion of social determinants in clinical risk modeling can conceal inequities, thoughtful consideration can help centers understand their performance across populations and guide efforts to improve health equity.

Comparative outcomes for patients who do and do not undergo percutaneous coronary intervention for stable coronary artery disease in New York.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about what treatments patients receive after being diagnosed with stable coronary artery disease or what the comparative outcomes are for routine medical treatment (RMT) versus percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with RMT for patients in a setting apart from randomized controlled trials. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing cardiac catheterization in New York State between 2003 and 2008 were followed up to determine the treatment they received. Patients receiving RMT and patients receiving PCI with RMT were propensity matched through the use of 20 factors that could have a bearing on outcomes. The resulting cohort of 933 matched pairs was used to compare mortality/myocardial infarction (MI), mortality, MI, and subsequent revascularization rates. A total of 89% of all patients underwent PCI with RMT. PCI/RMT patients had significantly lower adverse outcome rates at 4 years for mortality/MI (16.5% versus 21.2%; P=0.003), mortality (10.2% versus 14.5%; P=0.02), MI (8.0% versus 11.3%; P=0.007), and subsequent revascularization (24.1% versus 29.1%; P=0.005). Adjusted RMT versus (PCI with RMT) hazard ratios were 1.49 (95% confidence interval, 1.16-1.93) for mortality/MI and 1.46 (95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.97) for mortality. There were no differences for patients ≤ 65 years of age or for patients with single-vessel disease. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with stable coronary artery disease in New York undergoing catheterization between 2003 and 2008 received PCI. Patients who received PCI experienced lower mortality, mortality/MI, and revascularization rates. The reasons for this finding need to be better understood, including the possible role of low medication adherence rates that have been found in other studies.

Risk score for predicting long-term mortality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

BACKGROUND: No simplified bedside risk scores have been created to predict long-term mortality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. METHODS AND RESULTS: The New York State Cardiac Surgery Reporting System was used to identify 8597 patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery in July through December 2000. The National Death Index was used to ascertain patients' vital statuses through December 31, 2007. A Cox proportional hazards model was fit to predict death after CABG surgery using preprocedural risk factors. Then, points were assigned to significant predictors of death on the basis of the values of their regression coefficients. For each possible point total, the predicted risks of death at years 1, 3, 5, and 7 were calculated. It was found that the 7-year mortality rate was 24.2 in the study population. Significant predictors of death included age, body mass index, ejection fraction, unstable hemodynamic state or shock, left main coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, congestive heart failure, malignant ventricular arrhythmia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, renal failure, and history of open heart surgery. The points assigned to these risk factors ranged from 1 to 7; possible point totals for each patient ranged from 0 to 28. The observed and predicted risks of death at years 1, 3, 5, and 7 across patient groups stratified by point totals were highly correlated. CONCLUSION: The simplified risk score accurately predicted the risk of mortality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery and can be used for informed consent and as an aid in determining treatment choice.