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.

The Endangered State of Medicare Reimbursement for Cardiothoracic Surgery: A Call to Action.

Reimbursement for cardiothoracic surgery continues to be threatened with enormous financial cuts ranging from 5% to 10% in recent years. In this policy perspective, we describe the history of reimbursement for cardiothoracic surgery, highlight areas in need of urgent reform, propose possible solutions that Congress and the Executive Branch may enact, and call cardiothoracic surgeons to action on this critical issue. Meaningful engagement of members of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons with their elected representatives is the only way to prevent these cuts.

The Association of Socioeconomic Factors With Outcomes for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have identified the associations of socioeconomic factors with outcomes of cardiac procedures. The majority have focused on easily measured factors like sex, race, and insurance status, or on socioeconomic characteristics of patients' 5-digit zip codes. The impact of more granular census-derived socioeconomic information on outcomes has rarely been studied. METHODS: The independent impact of the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) on short-term mortality and readmissions was tested on patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery in New York by using it in logistic regression models in conjunction with patient risk factors and typical disparities measures (race, ethnicity, payer). Changes in hospitals' risk-adjusted outcomes and outlier status with the addition of socioeconomic measures were also tested. RESULTS: After adjusting for numerous patient characteristics, patients in the fourth and fifth highest ADI quintiles (most deprived) were more likely to experience in-hospital/30-day mortality after CABG surgery (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08, 2.20; and AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.02, 2.21), respectively. ADI was not associated with readmissions, but African Americans (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.18, 1.87), Hispanics (AOR 1.33, 95% CI 1.06, 1.65) and Medicaid patients (AOR 1.34, 95% CI 1.09, 1.64) were more likely to be readmitted. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with high ADIs are more likely to experience short-term mortality after CABG surgery. African Americans, Hispanics, and Medicaid patients are more likely to experience 30-day readmissions. This information should be taken into account when monitoring patients to reduce adverse events following surgery, and more studies related to ADI are needed to fully understand its implications.

Revascularization for Isolated Proximal Left Anterior Descending Artery Disease.

BACKGROUND: Most studies of patients with isolated proximal left anterior descending (PLAD) coronary artery disease do not include all 3 procedural options: percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), conventional coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, or minimally invasive CABG. METHODS: New York's cardiac registries were used to identify patients who underwent revascularization for isolated PLAD disease between January 1, 2010, and November 30, 2016, in New York State. After exclusions, 14,327 patients, of whom 13,115 received PCI, 1001 of whom underwent CABG surgery, and 211 of whom underwent minimally invasive CABG were monitored through the end of 2017 to compare outcomes. Registry data were matched to vital statistics data to obtain deaths occurring after discharge and matched to claims data to obtain subsequent admissions for myocardial infarction and stroke. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in mortality or in mortality/myocardial infarction/stroke after 7 years (with median follow-up times in excess of 4 years) among the 3 procedures after adjusting for differences in patient risk factors. However, conventional CABG surgery was associated with a lower subsequent revascularization rate than PCI (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-0.58) and minimally invasive CABG surgery (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.46; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.66). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with isolated PLAD disease undergoing any of 3 revascularization options (PCI, conventional CABG surgery, or minimally invasive CABG surgery), conventional CABG surgery was associated with lower subsequent revascularization rates, but there were no differences in mortality or mortality/myocardial infarction/stroke rates.

Predictors of postoperative hematocrit and association of hematocrit with adverse outcomes for coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients with cardiopulmonary bypass.

OBJECTIVE: To determine predictors of low intensive care unit (ICU) admission hematocrit, and to determine if low hematocrit is associated with postoperative outcomes for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 8417 patients who underwent CABG surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass in New York in 2007. Patients with very low ICU admission hematocrit (≤ 21.9%) and low ICU admission hematocrit (22.0% to 25.9%) were identified. Significant independent predictors of low and very low ICU admission hematocrit, and the independent impact of each of these states on adverse outcomes were identified. RESULTS: A total of 1.1% had very low hematocrit and 8.3% had low hematocrit. Significant independent predictors for either low or very low hematocrit included older age, females, lower body surface area, lower ventricular function, Hispanic ethnicity, non-Caucasian race, high creatinine, previous cardiac surgery, absence of left main disease, and emergency transfer to the operating room following catheterization or percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients with hematocrit ≤ 21.9% had significantly higher risk-adjusted rates of postoperative bleeding (adjusted OR = 4.37, 95% CI [1.97, 9.68, respiratory failure (adjusted OR = 2.85, 95% CI [1.45, 5.63]), and one or more complications than patients with normal hematocrit. Patients with hematocrit between 22.0% and 25.9% also had higher complication rates. CONCLUSION: It is important for cardiovascular surgical teams to be aware of risk factors that predispose patients to unacceptable hematocrit values, to monitor values closely, and to treat accordingly in the operating room when low values occur.

Hybrid Coronary Revascularization Versus Conventional Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: Utilization and Comparative Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Hybrid coronary revascularization (HCR) treats multivessel coronary artery disease by combining a minimally invasive surgical approach to the left anterior descending artery with percutaneous coronary intervention for non-left anterior descending diseased coronary arteries. The objective of this study is to compare HCR and conventional coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery medium-term outcomes. METHODS: Data from multivessel disease patients in New York's cardiac surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention registries in 2010 to 2016 were used to compare mortality and repeat revascularization rates for HCR and conventional CABG after using propensity matching to reduce selection bias. RESULTS: There was a total of 303 HCR (0.80%) patients and 37 556 conventional CABG patients after exclusions. After propensity matching, the respective median follow-up times were 3.72 years and 3.76 years. There was no difference between HCR and conventional CABG in survival at 6 years (80.9% versus 85.8%%, adjusted hazard ratio, 1.44 [0.90-2.31]), but HCR had higher mortality excluding deaths during the first year (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.88 [1.10-3.23]). Conventional CABG patients were more likely to be free from repeat revascularization at 6 years than HCR patients (88.2% versus 76.6%; hazard ratio, 2.22 [1.44-3.42]). CONCLUSIONS: HCR is rarely performed for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease. HCR and conventional CABG had no different 6-year mortality rates, but HCR had higher mortality after 1 year and higher rates of subsequent revascularization that were caused by both the need for repeat revascularization in the left anterior descending artery where minimally invasive CABG was performed, and in the coronary arteries where percutaneous coronary intervention was performed. Graphic Abstract: A graphic abstract is available for this article.

Out-of-Hospital 30-day Deaths After Cardiac Surgery Are Often Underreported.

BACKGROUND: Operative mortality (in-hospital during the index admission or within 30 days of the procedure after discharge) is commonly used as a quality of care measure for public reporting of cardiac surgery outcomes, but the ability to capture out-of-hospital deaths accurately remains undetermined. The objective of the study was to estimate the impact of incomplete reporting of out-of-hospital deaths on hospital risk-adjusted mortality and outlier status. METHODS: New York State's 2014 to 2016 cardiac registry data were used to compare the capture of 30-day postprocedure deaths after discharge with and without the use of national and state-level vital statistics data for all 54,442 patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass graft, cardiac valve surgery, or both. Hospital risk-adjusted operative mortality rates and mortality outliers were compared based on statistical models that were developed with and without the use of vital statistics data. RESULTS: Thirty-day deaths postprocedure after discharge ranged from 10% to 39% of all operative deaths among cardiac surgical procedures. More than 30% of these deaths were missing without vital statistics confirmation for 7 of the 10 cardiac procedures examined, and more than 40% were missing for 5 of the procedures examined. When vital statistics data were used to confirm 30-day postprocedure deaths after discharge, an additional high outlier for valve surgery was identified. CONCLUSIONS: Operative mortality after cardiac surgery is often underreported owing to a considerable percentage of out-of-hospital cardiac surgery deaths that are missed by reporting centers. This can adversely affect the assessment of hospital risk-adjusted mortality in public reports.

Multiple Versus Single Arterial Coronary Bypass Graft Surgery for Multivessel Disease.

BACKGROUND: Despite recent guideline statements, there is still wide practice variation in the use of multiple arterial grafts (MAGs) versus single arterial grafts (SAGs) for patients with multivessel disease undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. This may be related to differences in findings between observational and randomized controlled studies. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to compare intermediate-term MAG and SAG outcomes with enhanced matching to reduce selection bias. METHODS: New York's cardiac registry identified 63,402 multivessel disease patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2014, to compare outcomes (median follow-up 6.5 years) for patients receiving SAGs and MAGs. SAG and MAG patients were propensity matched using 38 baseline characteristics to reduce selection bias. The primary endpoint was mortality, and secondary endpoints included repeat revascularization and a composite endpoint of mortality, acute myocardial infarction, and stroke. RESULTS: Before matching, 20% of procedures employed MAG. At 1 year, there was no mortality difference between matched MAG and SAG patients (2.4% vs. 2.2%, adjusted hazard ratio [AHR]: 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93 to 1.32). At 7 years, MAG patients had lower mortality (12.7% vs. 14.3%, AHR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.79 to 0.93), a lower composite outcome (20.2% vs. 22.8%, AHR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.83 to 0.93), and a lower repeat revascularization rate (11.7% vs. 14.6%, AHR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.74 to 0.87). At 7 years, the subgroups for which MAG did not have a lower mortality rate included patients with off-pump surgery, 2-vessel disease with right coronary artery disease, recent acute myocardial infarction, renal dysfunction, and patient ≥70 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality and the composite outcome were similar between MAG and SAG patients at 1 year, but lower for MAG after 7 years. Patients of higher volume MAG surgeons experienced lower MAG mortality.

Mitral valve repair versus replacement for patients with preserved left ventricular function without heart failure symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study are to compare outcomes of mitral valve repair (MV-repair) and mitral valve replacement for patients with severe mitral regurgitation with preserved ventricular function and no congestive heart failure (CHF) symptoms and to examine variations in surgeon choice of procedure and outcomes by surgeon volume. METHODS: In total, 2259 consecutive patients in 42 New York State hospitals with the characteristics mentioned previously who underwent mitral valve repair (1801, 79.7%) or replacement between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2014, were identified from a mandatory statewide clinical registry. Propensity-matching was used to compare mortality and competing risk analyses were used to compare nonfatal outcomes. Median follow-up was 4.0 years. The use of mitral repair and risk-adjusted mortality for surgery were also examined as a function of individual surgeon mitral case volume. RESULTS: Propensity-matched patients who underwent MV-repair experienced a significantly lower mortality rate at 4 years (3.5% vs 12.1%, P < .001). Greater-volume surgeons were more likely to perform MV-repairs (92% vs 84%, 74%, and 69% in lower volume quartiles, respectively). No significant differences in mortality were observed among volume quartiles. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic severe primary mitral valve regurgitation with preserved ventricular function and no CHF symptoms who underwent MV-repair experienced lower mortality and no different reoperation, CHF, or stroke readmission rates than patients who underwent replacement. Greater-volume surgeons were more likely than their lower volume counterparts to choose mitral repair. Repair should be considered as the surgical option for these patients whenever possible.

Usefulness of Circulating Caspase-3 p17 and Caspase-1 p20 Peptides and Cardiac Troponin 1 During Cardioplegia to Gauge Myocardial Preservation.

Evidence is accumulating that cardiac apoptosis occurs and contributes to myocyte cell death during myocardial ischemia. Cardioplegia, defined as the temporary cessation of cardiac activity during cardiac surgery, is a clinically controlled condition with myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Our goal was to determine whether the apoptotic biomarker caspase-3 p17 is elevated in the coronary sinus (CS) during cardioplegia and if any elevations were reflected in the peripheral venous (PV) blood. Levels of the necrotic biomarker cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and the inflammatory marker caspase-1 p20 were also quantified in CS and PV. Blood was drawn before and at the end of cardioplegia in PV and CS and levels of p20, p17, and cTnI were measured. cTnI, p20, and p17 PV levels were significantly elevated compared with the control population before and at the end of cardioplegia. PV levels of all 3 markers increased after cardioplegia. CS levels were higher than PV levels for all 3 markers at both time points. Our data are consistent with the occurrence of cardiac apoptosis and inflammation during cardioplegia, in addition to necrosis. The heart-derived markers contributed to the peripheral levels and suggest that measurement of PV biomarker concentrations can be used to gauge cardiac preservation.

Advancing the Legislative Priorities of Cardiothoracic Surgeons: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Political Action Committee.

In the late 1990s, several federal government health policy decisions threatened the viability of thoracic surgery as a specialty. To respond to such decisions, active participation in political processes was given extremely high priority by the Executive Committee of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). Creation of the STS Political Action Committee (STS-PAC) in 1997 was a part of the platform of participation. The purpose of the STS-PAC is to enhance the Society's voice and stature in health care policymaking. Although the STS-PAC receives voluntary contributions from STS members, on average, only 10% of STS members contribute to the STS-PAC. For the 2015-2016 election cycle, there were 542 contributors to the STS-PAC totaling $273,000. An annual contribution of $100 from every STS member would put the STS-PAC into the top 10 for medical PACs (whereas currently it is ranked 22nd of 28 in the group of physician and dental association PACs). Despite the relatively small dollar amount the STS-PAC directs, its strategic disbursement of these dollars has yielded impressive results. For example, the STS-PAC was able to use its influence to effectively stop the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from implementing a potentially calamitous rule that would effectively end traditional global surgical payments. Other advocacy successes include providing guidance to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in developing the national coverage determination for transcatheter aortic valve replacement and structuring its complex reimbursement schedule, and ensuring that a provision was included in the bill that would give the STS National Database access to claims data. The STS-PAC is a principal component of the STS' advocacy armamentarium. Despite the many successes of the STS-PAC, with even modest contributions by more STS members, the STS-PAC could become a leading medical PAC, and would give the STS an even stronger presence and voice in Washington, DC. Clearly, contributing to the STS-PAC provides STS members the opportunity to have a voice and an impact on health policy and the care of their patients.

How Is Physician Work Valued?

Strategies to value physician work continue to evolve. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Database have an increasingly important role in this evolution. An understanding of the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) system (American Medical Association [AMA], Chicago, IL) and the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) is necessary to comprehend how physician work is valued. In 1965, with the dawn of increasingly complex medical care, immense innovation, and the rollout of Medicare, the need for a common language describing medical services and procedures was recognized as being of critical importance. In 1966, the AMA, in cooperation with multiple major medical specialty societies, developed the CPT system, which is a coding system for the description of medical procedures and medical services. The RUC was created by the AMA in response to the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, legislation of the United States of America Federal government that mandated that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services adopt a relative value methodology for Medicare physician payment. The role of the RUC is to develop relative value recommendations for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. These recommendations include relative value recommendations for new procedures or services and also updates to relative value recommendations for previously valued procedures or services. These recommendations pertain to all physician work delivered to Medicare beneficiaries and propose relative values for all physician services, including updates to those based on the original resource-based relative value scale developed by Hsaio and colleagues. In so doing, widely differing work and services provided can be reviewed and comparisons of their relative value (to each other) can be established. The resource-based relative value scale assigns value to physician services using relative value units (RVUs), which consist of three components: work RVU, practice expense RVU, and malpractice RVU, also known as professional liability insurance RVU. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services retains the final decision-making authority on the RVUs associated with each procedure or service. The purpose of this article is to discuss the role that the CPT codes and the RUC play in the valuation of physician work and to provide an example of how the methodology for valuation of physician work continues to evolve.

Utilization and 1-Year Mortality for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in New York Patients With Aortic Stenosis: 2011 to 2012.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) relative to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and to examine relative 1-year TAVR and SAVR outcomes in 2011 to 2012 in a population-based setting. BACKGROUND: TAVR has become a popular option for patients with severe aortic stenosis, particularly for higher-risk patients. METHODS: New York's Cardiac Surgery Reporting System was used to identify TAVR and SAVR volumes and to propensity match TAVR and SAVR patients using numerous patient risk factors contained in the registry to compare 1-year mortality rates. Mortality rates were also compared for different levels of patient risk. RESULTS: The total number of aortic valve replacement patients increased from 2,291 in 2011 to 2,899 in 2012, an increase of 27%. The volume of SAVR patients increased by 7.1% from 1,994 to 2,135 and the volume of TAVR patients increased 157% from 297 to 764. The percentage of SAVR patients that were at higher risk (≥3% New York State [NYS] score, equivalent to a Society of Thoracic Surgeons score of about 8%) decreased from 27% to 23%, and the percentage of TAVR patients that were at higher risk decreased from 83% to 76%. There was no significant difference in 1-year mortality between TAVR and SAVR patients (15.6% vs. 13.1%; hazard ratio [HR]: 1.30 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89 to 1.92]). There were no differences among patients with NYS score <3% (12.5% vs. 10.2%; HR: 1.42 [95% CI: 0.68 to 2.97]) or among patients with NYS score ≥3% (17.1% vs. 14.5%; HR: 1.27 [95% CI: 0.81 to 1.98]). CONCLUSIONS: TAVR has assumed a much larger share of all aortic valve replacements for severe aortic stenosis, and the average level of pre-procedural risk has decreased substantially. There are no differences between 1-year mortality rates for TAVR and SAVR patients.

The preoperative intraaortic balloon pump in coronary bypass surgery: a lack of evidence of effectiveness.

BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of preoperative intraaortic balloon pump (IABP) use in isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. A single-center randomized trial demonstrated its benefit. We undertook a multicenter observational study to verify this finding. METHODS: In 29,950 consecutive patients undergoing isolated CABG between 1995 and 2000 at 10 centers, we compared patients with and without a preoperative IABP. We also compared the effect of preoperative IABP use within 7 high-risk clinical subgroups. To validate the previous randomized trial, patients with any 2 of the following were also analyzed: left main > 70%, ejection fraction < 40%, redo CABG, or preoperative intravenous nitroglycerin. RESULTS: Preoperative IABPs were used in 1896 patients (6.3%). These patients had more comorbid conditions and a higher crude mortality than those who did not have preoperative IABPs (9.5% vs 2.3%, P < .0001). Preoperative IABP patients were caliper matched to non-preoperative IABP patients using a propensity score. Excess mortality associated with preoperative IABP persisted (9.2% vs 5.8%, P = .0004). In 7 high-risk subgroups, mortality was significantly higher with preoperative IABP. We used propensity caliper matching to compare preoperative IABP with non-preoperative IABP patients who met trial criteria (n = 4332). Preoperative IABP was associated with higher mortality (11.0% vs 6.5%, P = .0009). Removing emergency patients did not alter results. CONCLUSIONS: Use of preoperative IABPs was consistently associated with higher mortality. Despite detailed statistical analysis, we were unable to show benefit from preoperative IABP use or confirm the results of a single-center trial that demonstrated its benefit. Assessment of preoperative IABP efficacy will require a randomized trial.