Improving on the diagnostic characteristics of echocardiography for pulmonary hypertension.

This retrospective study evaluated the diagnostic characteristics of a combination of echocardiographic parameters for pulmonary hypertension (PH). Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) estimation by echocardiography (echo) is used to screen for PH. However, the sensitivity of this method is suboptimal. We hypothesized that RVSP estimation in conjunction with other echo parameters would improve the value of echo for PH. The Duke Echo database was queried for adult patients with known or suspected PH who had undergone both echo and right heart catheterization (RHC) within a 24 h period between 1/1/2008 and 12/31/2013. Patients with complex congenital heart disease, heart transplantation, ventricular assist device, or on mechanical ventilation at time of study were excluded. Diagnostic characteristics of several echo parameters (right atrial enlargement, pulmonary artery (PA) enlargement, RV enlargement, RV dysfunction, and RVSP) for PH (mean PA pressure 25 mmHg on RHC) were evaluated among 1007 patients. RVSP ≥40 had a sensitivity of 77% (accuracy 77), while RVSP ≥35 had the highest sensitivity at 88% (81% accuracy). PA enlargement had the lowest sensitivity at 17%. The area under the curve (AUC) for RVSP was 0.844. A model including RVSP, RA, PA, RV enlargement and RV dysfunction had a higher AUC (AUC = 0.87) than RVSP alone. The value of echo as a screening test for PH is improved by a model incorporating a lower RVSP in addition to other right heart parameters. These findings need to be validated in prospective cohorts.

Doctor Who? A Quality Improvement Project to Assess and Improve Patients' Knowledge of Their Inpatient Physicians.

Background Patient-physician communication is an integral part of high-quality patient care and an expectation of the Clinical Learning Environment Review program. Objective This quality improvement initiative evaluated the impact of an educational audit and feedback intervention on the frequency of use of 2 tools-business cards and white boards-to improve provider identification. Methods This before-after study utilized patient surveys to determine the ability of those patients to name and recognize their physicians. The before phase began in July 2013. From September 2013 to May 2014, physicians received education on business card and white board use. Results We surveyed 378 patients. Our intervention improved white board utilization (72.2% postintervention versus 54.5% preintervention, P < .01) and slightly improved business card use (44.4% versus 33.7%, P = .07), but did not improve physician recognition. Only 20.3% (14 of 69) of patients could name their physician without use of the business card or white board. Data from all study phases showed the use of both tools improved patients' ability to name physicians (OR = 1.72 and OR = 2.12, respectively; OR = 3.68 for both; P < .05 for all), but had no effect on photograph recognition. Conclusions Our educational intervention improved white board use, but did not result in improved patient ability to recognize physicians. Pooled data of business cards and white boards, alone or combined, improved name recognition, suggesting better use of these tools may increase identification. Future initiatives should target other barriers to usage of these types of tools.

Outcomes after nonemergent electrical cardioversion for atrial arrhythmias.

Electrical cardioversion (ECV) is recommended for rhythm control in patients with atrial arrhythmia; yet, ECV use and outcomes in contemporary practice are unknown. We reviewed all nonemergent ECVs for atrial arrhythmias at a tertiary care center (2010 to 2013), stratifying patients by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) use before ECV and comparing demographics, history, vitals, and laboratory studies. Outcomes included postprocedural success and complications and repeat cardioversion, rehospitalization, and death within 30 days. Overall, 1,017 patients underwent ECV, 760 (75%) for atrial fibrillation and 240 (24%) for atrial flutter; 633 underwent TEE before ECV and 384 did not. TEE recipients were more likely to be inpatients (74% vs 44%, p <0.001), have higher mean CHADS2 scores (2.6 vs 2.4, p = 0.03), and lower mean international normalized ratios (1.2 vs 2.1, p <0.001). Overall, 89 patients (8.8%) did not achieve sinus rhythm and 14 experienced procedural complications (1.4%). Within 30 days, 80 patients (7.9%) underwent repeat ECV, 113 (11%) were rehospitalized, and 14 (1.4%) died. Although ECV success was more common in patients who underwent TEE before ECV (77% vs 68%, p = 0.01), there were no differences in 30-day death or rehospitalization rates (11.1% vs 13.0%, p = 0.37). In multivariate analyses, higher pre-ECV heart rate was associated with increased rehospitalization or death (adjusted hazard ratio 1.15/10 beats/min, 95% confidence interval 1.07 to 1.24, p <0.001), whereas TEE use was associated with lower rates (adjusted hazard ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval 0.39 to 0.86, p = 0.007). In conclusion, failures, complications, and rehospitalization after nonemergent ECV are common and associated more with patient condition than procedural characteristics. TEE use was associated with better clinical outcomes.