Reducing the hospital burden of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: impact of an avoid-heparin program.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an adverse drug reaction occurring in up to 5% of patients exposed to unfractionated heparin (UFH). We examined the impact of a hospital-wide strategy for avoiding heparin on the incidence of HIT, HIT with thrombosis (HITT), and HIT-related costs. The Avoid-Heparin Initiative, implemented at a tertiary care hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, since 2006, involved replacing UFH with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for prophylactic and therapeutic indications. Consecutive cases with suspected HIT from 2003 through 2012 were reviewed. Rates of suspected HIT, adjudicated HIT, and HITT, along with HIT-related expenditures were compared in the pre-intervention (2003-2005) and the avoid-heparin (2007-2012) phases. The annual rate of suspected HIT decreased 42%, from 85.5 per 10 000 admissions in the pre-intervention phase to 49.0 per 10 000 admissions in the avoid-heparin phase ( ITALIC! P< .001). The annual rate of patients with a positive HIT assay decreased 63% from 16.5 to 6.1 per 10 000 admissions ( ITALIC! P< .001), adjudicated HIT decreased 79% from 10.7 to 2.2 per 10 000 admissions ( ITALIC! P< .001), and HITT decreased 91% from 4.6 to 0.4 per 10 000 admissions ( ITALIC! P< .001). Hospital HIT-related expenditures decreased by $266 938 per year in the avoid-heparin phase. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the success and feasibility of a hospital-wide HIT prevention strategy.

Canadian Cardiovascular Society/Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology 2023 Focused Update of the Guidelines for the Use of Antiplatelet Therapy.

Antiplatelet therapy (APT) is the foundation of treatment and prevention of atherothrombotic events in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Selecting the optimal APT strategies to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events, while balancing bleeding risk, requires ongoing review of clinical trials. Appended, the focused update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society/Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology guidelines for the use of APT provides recommendations on the following topics: (1) use of acetylsalicylic acid in primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; (2) dual APT (DAPT) duration after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients at high bleeding risk; (3) potent DAPT (P2Y12 inhibitor) choice in patients who present with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and possible DAPT de-escalation strategies after PCI; (4) choice and duration of DAPT in ACS patients who are medically treated without revascularization; (5) pretreatment with DAPT (P2Y12 inhibitor) before elective or nonelective coronary angiography; (6) perioperative and longer-term APT management in patients who require coronary artery bypass grafting surgery; and (7) use of APT in patients with atrial fibrillation who require oral anticoagulation after PCI or medically managed ACS. These recommendations are all on the basis of systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted as part of the development of these guidelines, provided in the Supplementary Material.

Does warfarin use impact hospital length of stay? A retrospective study looking at patients treated for atrial fibrillation.

The authors received anecdotal practice information from clinicians indicating that when warfarin was initiated in the hospital setting, it may be associated with an increased length of stay (LOS): specifically to achieve a desired minimum international normalized ratio (INR) of 2.0 before discharge in a subset of patients where clinicians perceived follow-up after discharge was not deemed optimal. Given that oral thromboprophylactic anticoagulation with warfarin is the mainstay treatment for the prevention of stroke in atrial fibrillation (AF), the authors decided to look at hospitalized patients from this population to determine if a subset of these patients experienced an increased LOS. The study design entailed a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients admitted to a large, tertiary care, academic center. Patients were included if they were admitted with a primary, secondary, or most responsible diagnosis of paroxysmal or chronic AF. Medical records were audited over an 18-month period (February 1, 2009, to July 31, 2010) to determine the average LOS and to identify patients with a documented prolonged LOS secondary due to subtherapeutic INR at the time of potential discharge. Our final study cohort of 189 patients had an average LOS of 5.2 days (SD = 5.2). However, for eight (4.2%) of these patients discharge was delayed an additional 2.25 days (SD = 1.3) for reasons solely attributed to achieving a therapeutic INR.

Association Between Patient and Physician Sex and Physician-Estimated Stroke and Bleeding Risks in Atrial Fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Physicians treating nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) assess stroke and bleeding risks when deciding on anticoagulation. The agreement between empirical and physician-estimated risks is unclear. Furthermore, the association between patient and physician sex and anticoagulation decision-making is uncertain. METHODS: We pooled data from 2 national primary care physician chart audit databases of patients with AF (Facilitating Review and Education to Optimize Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation and Coordinated National Network to Engage Physicians in the Care and Treatment of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Chart Audit) with a combined 1035 physicians (133 female, 902 male) and 10,927 patients (4567 female and 6360 male). RESULTS: Male physicians underestimated stroke risk in female patients and overestimated risk in male patients. Female physicians estimated stroke risk well in female patients but underestimated the risk in male patients. Risk of bleeding was underestimated in all. Despite differences in risk assessment by physician and patient sex, > 90% of patients received anticoagulation across all subgroups. There was modest agreement between physician estimated and calculated (ie, CHADS2 score) stroke risk: Kappa scores were 0.41 (0.35-0.47) for female physicians and 0.34 (0.32-0.36) for male physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to examine the association between patient and physician sex influences and stroke and bleeding risk estimation in AF. Although there were differences in agreement between physician estimated stroke risk and calculated CHADS2 scores, these differences were small and unlikely to affect clinical practice; further, despite any perceived differences in the accuracy of risk assessment by sex, most patients received anticoagulation.

Use of Evidence-Based Therapy for Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Canadian Outpatients With Atrial Fibrillation: From the Facilitating Review and Education to Optimize Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation (FREEDOM AF) and Co-ordinated National Network to Engage Physicians in the Care and Treatment of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation (CONNECT AF).

Using data collected from 2 national atrial fibrillation (AF) primary care physician chart audits (Facilitating Review and Education to Optimize Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation [FREEDOM AF] and Co-ordinated National Network to Engage Physicians in the Care and Treatment of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [CONNECT AF]), we evaluated the frequency of, and factors associated with, the use of cardiovascular (CV) evidence-based therapies in Canadian AF outpatients with at least 1 CV risk factor or co-morbidity. Of the 11,264 patients enrolled, 9,495 (84.3%) were eligible for one or more CV evidence-based therapies. The proportions of patients with AF receiving all eligible guideline-recommended therapies were 40.8% of patients with coronary artery disease, 48.9% of patients with diabetes mellitus, 40.2% of patients with heart failure, 96.7% of patients with hypertension, and 55.1% of patients with peripheral arterial disease. Factors that were independently associated with nonreceipt of all indicated evidence-based therapies included sinus rhythm rather than AF at baseline and liver disease. In conclusion, although most Canadian outpatients with AF have CV risk factors or co-morbidities, a substantial portion of these patients did not receive all guideline-recommended therapies. These findings suggest that there is an opportunity to improve the quality of care for patients with AF in Canada.

Risk stratification and stroke prevention therapy care gaps in Canadian atrial fibrillation patients (from the Co-ordinated National Network to Engage Physicians in the Care and Treatment of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation chart audit).

The objectives of this national chart audit (January to June 2013) of 6,346 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF; ≥18 years without a significant heart valve disorder) from 647 primary care physicians were to (1) describe the frequency of stroke and bleed risk assessments in patients with nonvalvular AF by primary care physicians, including the accuracy of these assessments relative to established predictive indexes; (2) outline contemporary methods of anticoagulation used; and (3) report the time in the therapeutic range among patients prescribed warfarin. An annual stroke risk assessment was not undertaken in 15% and estimated without a formal risk tool in 33%; agreement with CHADS2 score estimation was seen in 87% of patients. Major bleeding risk assessment was not undertaken in 25% and estimated without a formal risk tool in 47%; agreement with HAS-BLED score estimation was observed in 64% with physician overestimation in 26% of patients. Antithrombotic therapy included warfarin (58%), dabigatran (22%), rivaroxaban (14%), and apixaban (<1%). Among warfarin-treated patients, the median international normalized ratio was 2.4 and time in therapeutic range (TTR) was 73%; however, the TTR was <50% in 845 (25%), 50% to 69% in 674 (20%), and ≥70% in 1,827 (55%) patients. In conclusion, we describe a contemporary real-world elderly population with AF at important risk for stroke. There is apparent overestimation of bleeding risk in many patients. Warfarin was the dominant stroke prevention treatment; however, the suggested TTR target was achieved in only 55% of these patients.

Pharmacist's contribution in a heart function clinic: patient perception and medication appropriateness.

BACKGROUND: It has been cited that the management of congestive heart failure (CHF) requires a multidisciplinary approach; however, the role of the pharmacist has not been extensively studied. The roles for pharmacists are changing to meet the long term needs of patients in the community setting, including patients with CHF. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of a pharmacist on the appropriateness of medications taken by patients in the heart function clinic using the Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI) and to measure the effect of a pharmacist on the patients' response to the pharmacist's interventions using the Purdue Directive Guidance (DG) scale. METHODS: Eighty patients attending the heart function clinic at The University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital Toronto, Ontario were randomly assigned to an intervention group that received pharmacist services or a nonintervention group that received usual care from the clinic staff. Patients were assessed at baseline and at one-month follow-up. RESULTS: The change in MAI score from baseline was 0.74 and 0.49 for the intervention and nonintervention groups, respectively (P=0.605). The change in DG survey results was 9.97 and 1.00 for the intervention and nonintervention groups, respectively (P<0.001). The intervention group improved significantly in all components of the DG survey, especially those pertaining to feedback and goal setting. CONCLUSIONS: A benefit was demonstrated for 'directive guidance' of patients, in the form of education and goal setting as shown by positive survey results.

Increased uptake of guideline-recommended oral antiplatelet therapy: insights from the Canadian acute coronary syndrome reflective.

Current guideline-based recommendations for oral dual-antiplatelet therapy in an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) include the use of newer adenosine diphosphate receptor inhibitor (ADPri) regimens and agents. The Canadian ACS Reflective Program is a multicenter observational quality-enhancement project that compared the use of ADPri therapy in 2 phases (November 2011-March 2013 and April 2013-November 2013) and also compared ADPri use with previous national data from the Canadian Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (2000-2008). Of 3099 patients with ACS, 30.6% had ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 52.3% had non-STEMI, and 17% had unstable angina. There was high use of dual-antiplatelet therapy for ≤ 24 hours, with important increases noted when compared with previous national experience (P for trend, < 0.0001). Clopidogrel was the most commonly used ADPri (82.2%), with lower use of the newer agents ticagrelor (9.0%) and prasugrel (3.1%). Ticagrelor and prasugrel use was most frequent in patients with STEMI undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention PCI (34.3%). There was relatively lower use of ADPri therapy at discharge; it was given mainly to patients who did not undergo PCI (68.2%) and to those with non-ST-elevation ACS (82%). When comparing the 2 consecutive phases of data collection in the ACS Reflective, there was an approximate 3- and 2-fold increase in the early and discharge use of the newer ADPri agents, respectively. In conclusion, there has been a temporal increase in ADPri use compared with previous national experience and an increased uptake of newer ADPri agents. Additional work is needed to identify and address barriers limiting optimal implementation of these newer guideline-recommended agents into routine Canadian practice.

Comparison of the effectiveness and safety of low-molecular weight heparin versus unfractionated heparin anticoagulation after heart valve surgery.

Although unfractionated heparin (UFH) is used routinely after heart valve surgery at many institutions, cardiovascular surgery patients have a particularly high risk for developing heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) or UFH after heart valve surgery by conducting a retrospective evaluation of consecutive cardiovascular surgery patients in whom the LMWH dalteparin (n = 100) was used as the postoperative anticoagulant. This group was compared to an earlier group of patients who received UFH (n = 103). The main outcomes included the efficacy of the anticoagulant regimens (determined by the incidence of valve thrombosis, arterial thromboembolic events, and venous thromboembolic events) and the safety (determined by major bleeding, HIT, thrombotic events in HIT-positive cases, and death). Overall, there were for fewer thrombotic events in the LMWH-treated group (4% vs 11%, p = 0.11). There was a higher rate of bleeding events in the UFH-treated group (10% vs 3%, p = 0.08). Six patients in the UFH-treated group developed HIT, 4 of whom had thrombotic events (HIT with thrombosis). In the LMWH-treated group, 3 patients developed HIT, 1 of whom had HIT with thrombosis. In conclusion, in this study, an LMWH regimen after heart valve surgery was effective and safe, with fewer thrombotic, bleeding, HIT, and HIT with thrombosis events.

The direct medical costs associated with suspected heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

BACKGROUND: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an adverse drug reaction associated with heparin exposure. Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, a tertiary-care adult academic hospital, has cared for an average of 100 cases of suspected HIT per year. Although the management of suspected HIT is resource intensive, few studies have assessed the cost burden associated with HIT, and none have assessed the costs of suspected HIT. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify and quantify the direct medical costs associated with suspected (confirmed and negative) HIT at a hospital in Canada. METHODS: A cost-of-illness analysis was conducted in patients with suspected HIT during 2005. Resource utilization variables included (i) laboratory tests to investigate HIT; (ii) HIT-safe anticoagulant use; (iii) diagnostic imaging related to HIT or its treatment; and (iv) additional hospital days attributed to HIT. The average costs per case of confirmed HIT, confirmed HIT with thrombosis (HITT) and negative HIT were calculated in $Can, year 2007 values. RESULTS: Confirmed HITT cases incurred substantially greater costs ($Can34 155, range 358-202 069; n = 12) than confirmed HIT cases without thrombosis ($Can4575, range 39-16 373; n = 8). The average cost of care for a negative HIT case was $Can119 (range 39-4181; n = 88). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to quantify the costs associated with suspected HIT cases. These cases increase the costs of hospital care and provide further justification for HIT prevention strategies.

Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers and cardiovascular outcomes in elderly patients: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers are widely used for the treatment of hypertension and angina. Despite safety concerns associated with short-acting agents, increasing evidence supports the safety of long-acting dihydropyridines. Although amlodipine is the best studied of these, there are few studies comparing it with nifedipine. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between hospitalization for acute coronary syndromes and treatment with amlodipine or extended-release nifedipine in patients 65 years of age and older. The primary objective was a composite of hospital admission for angina or acute myocardial infarction. METHODS: The present population-based, retrospective cohort study used linked health care databases from Ontario. Propensity scores were used to identify highly similar patients started on amlodipine or extended-release nifedipine between April 1997 and March 2002. Time-to-event analysis was conducted using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: The analysis included 24,190 patients (44% male; mean age 75 years) treated with amlodipine or extended-release nifedipine (n=12,095 each). The number of patients reaching the primary end point was 362 (3%) and 294 (2.4%) in the amlodipine and nifedipine groups, respectively. The groups were similar in a large number of demographic and clinical characteristics. No significant differences were observed among users of extended-release nifedipine (adjusted hazard ratio 0.91, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.13) relative to amlodipine. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that amlodipine and extended-release nifedipine are not associated with differential rates of acute coronary events in older patients.