Kanishk Agnihotri

Trends in Hospitalization for Atrial Fibrillation: Epidemiology, Cost, and Implications for the Future

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent arrhythmia worldwide and the most common arrhythmia leading to hospitalization. Due to a substantial increase in incidence and prevalence of AF over the past few decades, it attributes to an extensive economic and public health burden. The increasing number of hospitalizations, aging population, anticoagulation management, and increasing trend for disposition to a skilled facility are drivers of the increasing cost associated with AF. There has been significant progress in AF management with the release of new oral anticoagulants, use of left atrial catheter ablation, and novel techniques for left atrial appendage closure. In this article, we aim to review the trends in epidemiology, hospitalization, and cost of AF along with its future implications on public health.

Utilization of catheter-directed thrombolysis in pulmonary embolism and outcome difference between systemic thrombolysis and catheter-directed thrombolysis.

The aim of the study was to assess the utilization of catheter‐directed thrombolysis (CDT) and its comparative effectiveness against systemic thrombolysis in acute pulmonary embolism (PE).

Contemporary utilization and safety outcomes of catheter ablation of atrial flutter in the United States: Analysis of 89,638 procedures

BACKGROUND Atrial flutter (AFL) ablation has been increasingly offered as first-line therapy and safely performed over the last decades. However, limited data exist regarding current utilization and trends in adverse outcomes arising from this procedure. OBJECTIVE The aim of our study was to examine the frequency of adverse events attributable to AFL ablation and influence of hospital volume on safety outcomes. METHODS Data were obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, the largest all-payer inpatient dataset in the United States. Patients with AFL who underwent catheter ablation from 2000 to 2011 were identified using ICD-9 codes. In-hospital death and common complications were identified, including cardiac perforation and tamponade, pneumothorax, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and vascular access complications. RESULTS A total of 89,638 AFL patients were treated with catheter ablation during our study period. Total number of ablations performed increased by 154% from 2000 to 2011. The in-hospital mortality rate was 0.17% and the overall complication rate was 3.17%. Cardiac complications (1.44%) were the most frequent, followed by respiratory (0.88%), vascular (0.78%), and neurological complications (0.05%). Low hospital volume (<50 procedures/year) was significantly associated with increased adverse outcomes. Overall frequency of complications per 100 ablation procedures increased from 2.86 in 2000 to 5.39 in 2011 (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS The overall complication rate was 3.17% in patients undergoing AFL ablation. There was a significant association between low hospital volume and increased adverse outcomes. This suggests a need for future research into identifying the safety measures in AFL ablations and instituting appropriate interventions to improve overall AFL ablation outcomes.

Gender, Race, and Health Insurance Status in Patients Undergoing Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.

Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) has emerged as a popular procedure. The purpose of this study was to examine whether there exist differences or disparities in ablation utilization across gender, socioeconomic class, insurance, or race. Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2000 to 2012), we identified adults hospitalized with a principal diagnosis of AF by ICD 9 code 427.31 who had catheter ablation (ICD 9 code-37.34). We stratified patients by race, insurance status, age, gender, and hospital characteristics. A hierarchical multivariate mixed-effect model was created to identify the independent predictors of AF ablation. Among an estimated total of 3,508,122 patients (extrapolated from 20% Nationwide Inpatient Sample) hospitalized with a diagnosis of AF in the United States from the year 2000 to 2012, 102,469 patients (2.9%) underwent catheter ablations. The number of ablations was increased by 940%, from 1,439 in 2000 to 15,090 in 2012. There were significant differences according to gender, race, and health insurance status, which persisted even after adjustment for other risk factors. Female gender (0.83 [95% CI 0.79 to 0.87; p <0.001]), black (0.49 [95% CI 0.44 to 0.55; p <0.001]), and Hispanic race (0.64 [95% CI 0.56 to 0.72; p <0.001]) were associated with lower likelihoods of undergoing an AF ablation. Medicare (0.93, 0.88 to 0.98, <0.001) or Medicaid (0.67, 0.59 to 0.76, <0.001) coverage and uninsured patients (0.55, 0.49 to 0.62, <0.001) also had lower rates of AF ablation compared to patients with private insurance. In conclusion we found differences in utilization of catheter ablation for AF based on gender, race, and insurance status that persisted over time.

What is the optimal approach to a non- culprit stenosis after ST-elevation myocardial infarction — Conservative therapy or upfront revascularization? An updated meta-analysis of randomized trials ☆

BACKGROUND Non-culprit percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) during a ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of the published literature comparing a strategy of complete revascularization (CR) with culprit or target vessel revascularization (TVR)-only after STEMI in patients with multi-vessel disease. METHODS We searched PubMed/Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus and Google-scholar databases from inception to March-2016 for clinical trials comparing CR with TVR during PCI for STEMI. Mantel-Haenszel risk ratio (MH-RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for individual outcomes was calculated using random-effects model. RESULTS A total of 7 randomized trials with 2004 patients were included in the final analysis. Mean follow-up was 25.4months. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) (MH-RR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.43-0.78, P<0.001), cardiac deaths (MH-RR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.24-0.74, P=0.003) and repeat revascularization (MH-RR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.27-0.48, P<0.001) were much lower in the CR group when compared to TVR. However, there was no significant difference in the risk of all-cause mortality (0.84, 95% CI: 0.57-1.25, P=0.394) or recurrent MI (MH-RR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.34-1.26, P=0.205) between the two groups. CR appeared to be safe with no significant increase in adverse events including stroke rates (MH-RR: 2.19, 95% CI: 0.59-8.12, P=0.241), contrast induced nephropathy (MH-RR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.34-1.57, P=0.423) or major bleeding episodes (MH-RR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.34-1.54, P=0.399). CONCLUSIONS CR strategy in STEMI patients with multivessel coronary artery disease is associated with reduction in MACE, cardiac mortality and need for repeat revascularization but with no decrease in the risk of subsequent MI or all-cause mortality. CR was safe however, with no increase in adverse events including stroke, stent thrombosis or contrast nephropathy when compared to TVR.

Gender, Racial, and Health Insurance Differences in the Trend of Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) Utilization: A United States Experience Over the Last Decade.

Prior studies have highlighted disparities in cardiac lifesaving procedure utilization, particularly among women and in minorities. Although there has been a significant increase in implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (ICD) insertion, socioeconomic disparities still exist in the trend of ICD utilization. With the use of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2003 through 2011, we identified subjects with ICD insertion (procedure code 37.94) and cardiac resynchronization defibrillator (procedure code 00.50, 00.51) as codified by the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification. Overall, 1 020 076 ICDs were implanted in the United States from 2003 to 2011. We observed an initial increase in ICD utilization by 51%, from 95 062 in 2003 to 143 262 in 2006, followed by a more recent decline. The majority of ICDs were implanted in men age ≥65 years. Implantation of ICDs was 2.5× more common in men than in women (402 per million vs 163 per million). Approximately 95% of the ICDs were implanted in insured patients, and 5% were used in the uninsured population. There has been a significant increase in ICD implantation in blacks, from 162 per million in 2003 to 291 per million in 2011. We found a significant difference in the volume of ICD implants between the insured and the uninsured patient populations. Racial disparities have narrowed significantly in comparison with those noted in earlier studies and are now more reflective of the population demographics at large. On the other hand, significant gender disparities continue to exist.

Prognostic impact of atrial fibrillation on clinical outcomes of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of sustained arrhythmia, which is now on course to reach epidemic proportions in the elderly population. AF is a commonly encountered comorbidity in patients with cardiac and major non-cardiac diseases. Morbidity and mortality associated with AF makes it a major healthcare burden. The objective of our article is to determine the prognostic impact of AF on acute coronary syndromes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. Multiple studies have been conducted to determine if AF has an independent role in the overall mortality of such patients. Our review suggests that AF has an independent adverse prognostic impact on the clinical outcomes of acute coronary syndromes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease.

Intravascular Ultrasound in Lower Extremity Peripheral Vascular Interventions Variation in Utilization and Impact on In-Hospital Outcomes From the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2006–2011)

Purpose: To examine the impact of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) utilization during lower limb endovascular interventions as regards postprocedural complications and amputation. Methods: The study cohort was derived from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample database between the years 2006 and 2011. Peripheral endovascular interventions were identified using appropriate ICD-9 procedure codes. Two-level hierarchical multivariate mixed models were created. The co-primary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and amputation; the secondary outcome was postprocedural complications. Model results are given as the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Hospitalization costs were also assessed. Results: Overall, among the 92,714 patients extracted from the database during the observation period, IVUS was used in 1299 (1.4%) patients. IVUS utilization during lower extremity peripheral vascular procedures was independently predictive of a lower rate of postprocedural complications (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.99, p=0.037) as well as lower amputation rates (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.77, p<0.001) without any significant impact on in-hospital mortality. Multivariate analysis also revealed IVUS utilization to be predictive of a nonsignificant increase in hospitalization costs (

Variability in utilization of drug eluting stents in United States: Insights from nationwide inpatient sample

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Frequency of in-hospital adverse outcomes and cost utilization associated with cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator implantation in the United States: PATEL et al.

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