The association between the public reporting of individual operator outcomes with patient profiles, procedural management, and mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention: an observational study from the Pan-London PCI (BCIS) Registry using an interrupted time series analysis.

AIMS: The public reporting of healthcare outcomes has a number of potential benefits; however, unintended consequences may limit its effectiveness as a quality improvement process. We aimed to assess whether the introduction of individual operator specific outcome reporting after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the UK was associated with a change in patient risk factor profiles, procedural management, or 30-day mortality outcomes in a large cohort of consecutive patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: This was an observational cohort study of 123 780 consecutive PCI procedures from the Pan-London (UK) PCI registry, from January 2005 to December 2015. Outcomes were compared pre- (2005-11) and post- (2011-15) public reporting including the use of an interrupted time series analysis. Patients treated after public reporting was introduced were older and had more complex medical problems. Despite this, reported in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events rates were significantly lower after the introduction of public reporting (2.3 vs. 2.7%, P < 0.0001). Interrupted time series analysis demonstrated evidence of a reduction in 30-day mortality rates after the introduction of public reporting, which was over and above the existing trend in mortality before the introduction of public outcome reporting (35% decrease relative risk 0.64, 95% confidence interval 0.55-0.77; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The introduction of public reporting has been associated with an improvement in outcomes after PCI in this data set, without evidence of risk-averse behaviour. However, the lower reported complication rates might suggest a change in operator behaviour and decision-making confirming the need for continued surveillance of the impact of public reporting on outcomes and operator behaviour.

Prior Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery and Outcome After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: An Observational Study From the Pan-London Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Registry.

Background Limited information exists regarding procedural success and clinical outcomes in patients with previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to compare outcomes in patients undergoing PCI with or without CABG. Methods and Results This was an observational cohort study of 123 780 consecutive PCI procedures from the Pan-London (UK) PCI registry from 2005 to 2015. The primary end point was all-cause mortality at a median follow-up of 3.0 years (interquartile range, 1.2-4.6 years). A total of 12 641(10.2%) patients had a history of previous CABG, of whom 29.3% (n=3703) underwent PCI to native vessels and 70.7% (n=8938) to bypass grafts. There were significant differences in the demographic, clinical, and procedural characteristics of these groups. The risk of mortality during follow-up was significantly higher in patients with prior CABG (23.2%; P=0.0005) compared with patients with no prior CABG (12.1%) and was seen for patients who underwent either native vessel (20.1%) or bypass graft PCI (24.2%; P<0.0001). However, after adjustment for baseline characteristics, there was no significant difference in outcomes seen between the groups when PCI was performed in native vessels in patients with previous CABG (hazard ratio [HR],1.02; 95%CI, 0.77-1.34; P=0.89), but a significantly higher mortality was seen among patients with PCI to bypass grafts (HR,1.33; 95% CI, 1.03-1.71; P=0.026). This was seen after multivariate adjustment and propensity matching. Conclusions Patients with prior CABG were older with greater comorbidities and more complex procedural characteristics, but after adjustment for these differences, the clinical outcomes were similar to the patients undergoing PCI without prior CABG. In these patients, native-vessel PCI was associated with better outcomes compared with the treatment of vein grafts.

A case report of eosinophilic granulomatosis and polyangiitis myocarditis presenting as ST elevation myocardial infarction and showing positive response to immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a medical emergency and is most commonly due to atherosclerotic plaque rupture and occlusion of coronary vessels. This case demonstrates that eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) myocarditis can mimic acute STEMI. CASE SUMMARY: A 44-year-old woman presented with acute chest pain, shortness of breath, and collapse with ST elevation on electrocardiography. Coronary angiogram showed unobstructed coronaries and chest film revealed left-sided consolidation. Together with a thorough history, serum eosinophilia, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and computated tomography imaging, the patient was diagnosed with acute EGPA myocarditis. She responded tremendously to steroid and cyclophosphamide immunosuppression and subsequent CMR imaging demonstrated complete resolution of myocarditis. DISCUSSION: CMR played a crucial role in the diagnosis and follow-up of this rare presentation. In patients who present as a STEMI but show unobstructed coronary vessels, EGPA may be a possible diagnosis.

Complete Versus Culprit-Only Lesion Intervention in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes.

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of patients presenting with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) present with multivessel disease (MVD). There is uncertainty in the role of complete coronary revascularization in this group of patients. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the outcomes of complete revascularization compared with culprit vessel-only intervention in a large contemporary cohort of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for NSTEMI. METHODS: The authors undertook an observational cohort study of 37,491 NSTEMI patients treated between 2005 and 2015 at the 8 heart attack centers in London. Clinical details were recorded at the time of the procedure into local databases using the British Cardiac Intervention Society (BCIS) PCI dataset. A total of 21,857 patients (58.3%) presented with NSTEMI and MVD. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality at a median follow-up of 4.1 years (interquartile range: 2.2 to 5.8 years). RESULTS: A total of 11,737 (53.7%) patients underwent single-stage complete revascularization during PCI for NSTEMI, rates that significantly increased during the study period (p = 0.006). Those patients undergoing complete revascularization were older and more likely to be male, diabetic, have renal disease and a history of previous myocardial infarction/revascularization compared with the culprit-only revascularization group. Although crude, in-hospital major adverse cardiac event rates were similar (5.2% vs. 4.8%; p = 0.462) between the 2 groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated significant differences in mortality rates between the 2 groups (22.5% complete revascularization vs. 25.9% culprit vessel intervention; p = 0.0005) during the follow-up period. After multivariate Cox analysis (hazard ratio: 0.90; 95% confidence interval: 0.85 to 0.97) and the use of propensity matching (hazard ratio: 0.89; 95% confidence interval: 0.76 to 0.98) complete revascularization was associated with reduced mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In NSTEMI patients with MVD, despite higher initial (in-hospital) mortality rates, single-stage complete coronary revascularization appears to be superior to culprit-only vessel PCI in terms of long-term mortality rates. This supports the need for further randomized study to confirm these findings.

Manual Thrombus Aspiration Is Not Associated With Reduced Mortality in Patients Treated With Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: An Observational Study of 10,929 Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction From the London Heart Attack Group.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the impact of thrombus aspiration on mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). BACKGROUND: The clinical effect of routine intracoronary thrombus aspiration before primary PCI in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction is uncertain. METHODS: We undertook an observational cohort study of 10,929 ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients from January 2005 to July 2011 at 8 centers across London, United Kingdom. Patients' details were recorded at the time of the procedure into local databases using the British Cardiac Intervention Society PCI dataset. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality at a median follow-up of 3.0 years (interquartile range: 1.2 to 4.6 years). RESULTS: In our cohort, 3,572 patients (32.7%) underwent thrombus aspiration during primary PCI. Patients who had thrombus aspiration were younger, had lower rates of previous myocardial infarction but were more likely to have poor left ventricular function. Procedural success rates were higher (90.9% vs. 89.2%; p=0.005) and in-hospital major adverse cardiac event rates were lower (4.4% vs. 5.5%; p=0.012) in patients undergoing thrombus aspiration. However, Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated no significant difference in mortality rates between patients with and without thrombus aspiration (14.8% aspiration vs. 15.3% PCI only; p=0.737) during the follow-up period. After multivariate Cox analysis (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65 to 1.23) and the addition of propensity matching (HR: 0.85 95% CI: 0.60 to 1.20) thrombus aspiration was still not associated with decreased mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of nearly 11,000 patients, routine thrombus aspiration was not associated with a reduction in long-term mortality in patients undergoing primary PCI, although procedural success and in-hospital major adverse cardiac event rates were improved.