Natalie Jayaram

Adjusting for risk associated with pediatric and congenital cardiac catheterization: A report from the NCDR IMPACT registry

Background— As US health care increasingly focuses on outcomes as a means for quantifying quality, there is a growing demand for risk models that can account for the variability of patients treated at different hospitals so that equitable comparisons between institutions can be made. We sought to apply aspects of prior risk-standardization methodology to begin development of a risk-standardization tool for the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) IMPACT (Improving Pediatric and Adult Congenital Treatment) Registry. Methods and Results— Using IMPACT, we identified all patients undergoing diagnostic or interventional cardiac catheterization between January 2011 and March 2013. Multivariable hierarchical logistic regression was used to identify patient and procedural characteristics predictive of experiencing a major adverse event after cardiac catheterization. A total of 19 608 cardiac catheterizations were performed between January 2011 and March 2013. Among all cases, a major adverse event occurred in 378 of all cases (1.9%). After multivariable adjustment, 8 variables were identified as critical for risk standardization: patient age, renal insufficiency, single-ventricle physiology, procedure-type risk group, low systemic saturation, low mixed venous saturation, elevated systemic ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and elevated main pulmonary artery pressures. The model had good discrimination (C statistic, 0.70), confirmed by bootstrap validation (validation C statistic, 0.69). Conclusions— Using prior risk-standardization efforts as a foundation, we developed and internally validated a model to predict the occurrence of a major adverse event after cardiac catheterization for congenital heart disease. Future efforts should be directed toward further refinement of the model variables within this large, multicenter data set.

Hospital Variation in Survival After Pediatric In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Background—Although survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest is likely to vary among hospitals caring for children, validated methods to risk-standardize pediatric survival rates across sites do not currently exist. Methods and Results—From 2006 to 2010, within the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation registry for in-hospital cardiac arrest, we identified 1551 cardiac arrests in children (<18 years). Using multivariable hierarchical logistic regression, we developed and validated a model to predict survival to hospital discharge and calculated risk-standardized rates of cardiac arrest survival for hospitals with a minimum of 10 pediatric cardiac arrest cases. A total of 13 patient-level predictors were identified: age, sex, cardiac arrest rhythm, location of arrest, mechanical ventilation, acute nonstroke neurological event, major trauma, hypotension, metabolic or electrolyte abnormalities, renal insufficiency, sepsis, illness category, and need for intravenous vasoactive agents prior to the arrest. The model had good discrimination (C-statistic of 0.71), confirmed by bootstrap validation (validation C-statistic of 0.69). Among 30 hospitals with ≥10 cardiac arrests, unadjusted hospital survival rates varied considerably (median, 37%; interquartile range, 24–42%; range, 0–61%). After risk-standardization, the range of hospital survival rates narrowed (median, 37%; interquartile range, 33–38%; range, 29–48%), but variation in survival persisted. Conclusions—Using a national registry, we developed and validated a model to predict survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest in children. After risk-standardization, significant variation in survival rates across hospitals remained. Leveraging these models, future studies can identify best practices at high-performing hospitals to improve survival outcomes for pediatric cardiac arrest.

Survival After Out‐of‐Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Children

Background Little is known about survival after out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in children. We examined whether OHCA survival in children differs by age, sex, and race, as well as recent survival trends. Methods and Results Within the prospective Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES), we identified children (age <18 years) with an OHCA from October 2005 to December 2013. Survival to hospital discharge by age (categorized as infants [0 to 1 year], younger children [2 to 7 years], older children [8 to 12 years], and teenagers [13 to 17 years]), sex, and race was assessed using modified Poisson regression. Additionally, we assessed whether survival has improved over 3 time periods: 2005–2007, 2008–2010, and 2011–2013. Of 1980 children with an OHCA, 429 (21.7%) were infants, 952 (48.1%) younger children, 276 (13.9%) older children, and 323 (16.3%) teenagers. Fifty‐nine percent of the study population was male and 31.8% of black race. Overall, 162 (8.2%) children survived to hospital discharge. After multivariable adjustment, infants (rate ratio: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.90) and younger children (rate ratio: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.65) were less likely to survive compared with teenagers. In contrast, there were no differences in survival by sex or race. Finally, there were no temporal trends in survival across the study periods (P=0.21). Conclusions In a large, national registry, we found no evidence for racial or sex differences in survival among children with OHCA, but survival was lower in younger age groups. Unlike in adults with OHCA, survival rates in children have not improved in recent years.

Procedural characteristics and adverse events in diagnostic and interventional catheterisations in paediatric and adult CHD: initial report from the IMPACT Registry

OBJECTIVES To report procedural characteristics and adverse events on data collected in the registry. BACKGROUND The IMPACT--IMproving Paediatric and Adult Congenital Treatment--Registry is a catheterisation registry of paediatric and adult patients with CHD undergoing diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterisation. We are reporting the procedural characteristics and adverse events of patients undergoing diagnostic and interventional catheterisation procedures from January, 2011 to March, 2013. METHODS Demographic, clinical, procedural, and institutional data elements were collected at the participating centres and entered via either a web-based platform or software provided by American College of Cardiology-certified vendors, and were collected in a secure, centralised database. Centre participation was voluntary. RESULTS During the time frame of data collection, 19,797 procedures were entered into the IMPACT Registry. Procedures were classified as diagnostic only (35.4%); one of six specific interventions (23.8%); other or multiple interventions (40.7%); and were further broken down into four age groups. Anaesthesia was used in 84.1% of diagnostic procedures and 87.8% of interventional ones. Adverse events occurred in 10.0% of diagnostic and 11.1% of interventional procedures. CONCLUSIONS The IMPACT Registry is gathering data to set national benchmarks for diagnostic and certain specific interventional procedures. We are seeing little differences in procedural characteristics or adverse events in diagnostic procedures compared with interventional procedures overall, but there is significant variation in adverse events amongst age categories. Risk stratification and patient acuity scores will be required for further analysis of these differences.

Effect of center catheterization volume on risk of catastrophic adverse event after cardiac catheterization in children.

BACKGROUND Procedural volume has been shown to be associated with outcome in cardiac catheterization and intervention in adults. The impact of center-level factors (such as volume) and their interaction with subject- and procedure-level factors on outcome after cardiac catheterization in children is not well described. We hypothesized that higher center catheterization volume would be associated with lower risk of catastrophic adverse events. METHODS We studied children and young adults 0 to 21 years of age undergoing one or more cardiac catheterizations at centers participating in the Pediatric Health Information Systems database between 2007 and 2012. Using mixed-effects multivariable regression, we assessed the association between center catheterization volumes and the risk of a composite outcome of death and/or initiation of mechanical circulatory support within 1 day of cardiac catheterization adjusting for patient- and procedure-level factors. RESULTS A total of 63,994 procedures performed on 40,612 individuals from 38 of 43 centers contributing data to the Pediatric Health Information Systems database were included. The adjusted risk of the composite outcome was 0.1%. Increasing annual catheterization laboratory volume was independently associated with reduced risk of the composite outcome (odds ratio per a 100-procedure/y increment 0.78 [95% CI 0.65-0.93], P < .006). Younger age at catheterization, previous cardiac operation in the same admission as the catheterization, preprocedural vasoactive medications, and hemodialysis were also independently associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Higher cardiac catheterization laboratory volume was associated with reduced risk of catastrophic adverse outcome in the immediate postcatheterization period in children. The observed benefit of catheterization at a larger volume center may be attributable to transmissible best practices or inextricable benefits of larger systems.

Relationship between hospital procedure volume and complications following congenital cardiac catheterization: A report from the IMproving Pediatric and Adult Congenital Treatment (IMPACT) registry

Background The association between institutional volume and outcomes has been demonstrated for cardiac catheterization among adults, but less is known about this relationship for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing cardiac catheterization. Methods Within the IMPACT registry, we identified all catheterizations between January 2011 and March 2015. Hierarchical logistic regression, adjusted for patient and procedural characteristics, was used to determine the association between annual catheterization lab volume and occurrence of a major adverse event (MAE). Results Of 56,453 catheterizations at 77 hospitals, an MAE occurred in 1014 (1.8%) of cases. In unadjusted analysis, a MAE occurred in 2.8% (123/4460) of cases at low‐volume hospitals (<150 procedures annually), as compared with 1.5% (198/12,787), 2.0% (431/21,391), and 1.5% (262/17,815) of cases at medium‐ (150‐299 annual procedures), high‐ (300‐499 annual procedures), and very‐high‐volume (≥500 procedures annually) hospitals, respectively, P < .001. After multivariable adjustment, this significant relationship between annual procedure volume and occurrence of an MAE persisted. Compared to low‐volume programs, the odds of an MAE was 0.55 (95% CI 0.35‐0.86, P = .008), 0.62 (95% CI 0.41‐0.95, P = .03), and 0.52 (95% CI 0.31‐0.90, P = .02) at medium‐, high‐, and very‐high‐volume programs, respectively. Conclusions Although the risk of MAE after cardiac catheterization in patients with CHD is low at all hospitals, it is higher among hospitals with fewer than 150 cases annually. These results support the notion that centers meeting this threshold volume for congenital cardiac catheterizations may achieve improved patient outcomes.

Modeling Major Adverse Outcomes of Pediatric and Adult Patients With Congenital Heart Disease Undergoing Cardiac Catheterization: Observations From the NCDR IMPACT Registry (National Cardiovascular Data Registry Improving Pediatric and Adult Congenital Treatment)

Background: Risk standardization for adverse events after congenital cardiac catheterization is needed to equitably compare patient outcomes among different hospitals as a foundation for quality improvement. The goal of this project was to develop a risk-standardization methodology to adjust for patient characteristics when comparing major adverse outcomes in the NCDR’s (National Cardiovascular Data Registry) IMPACT Registry (Improving Pediatric and Adult Congenital Treatment). Methods: Between January 2011 and March 2014, 39 725 consecutive patients within IMPACT undergoing cardiac catheterization were identified. Given the heterogeneity of interventional procedures for congenital heart disease, new procedure-type risk categories were derived with empirical data and expert opinion, as were markers of hemodynamic vulnerability. A multivariable hierarchical logistic regression model to identify patient and procedural characteristics predictive of a major adverse event or death after cardiac catheterization was derived in 70% of the cohort and validated in the remaining 30%. Results: The rate of major adverse event or death was 7.1% and 7.2% in the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively. Six procedure-type risk categories and 6 independent indicators of hemodynamic vulnerability were identified. The final risk adjustment model included procedure-type risk category, number of hemodynamic vulnerability indicators, renal insufficiency, single-ventricle physiology, and coagulation disorder. The model had good discrimination, with a C-statistic of 0.76 and 0.75 in the derivation and validation cohorts, respectively. Model calibration in the validation cohort was excellent, with a slope of 0.97 (standard error, 0.04; P value [for difference from 1] =0.53) and an intercept of 0.007 (standard error, 0.12; P value [for difference from 0] =0.95). Conclusions: The creation of a validated risk-standardization model for adverse outcomes after congenital cardiac catheterization can support reporting of risk-adjusted outcomes in the IMPACT Registry as a foundation for quality improvement.

The Association Between Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Health Status Following Acute Myocardial Infarction

Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are commonly used in patients with cardiovascular disease. Although there is lack of evidence regarding the benefit of CAM on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, health‐status benefits could justify CAM use.

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE USE AND HEALTH STATUS FOLLOWING ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is common in patients with cardiovascular disease. While CAM has not been linked to lower cardiovascular morbidity or mortality, health status benefits could justify CAM use. Patients with MI from 24 US sites were assessed for CAM use and health

Societal solutions to childhood origins of coronary artery disease

Childhood obesity and associated risks result in premature cardiovascular damage and disease with a consequent, large burden to society. There are causes for childhood obesity that are rooted in the socioeconomic milieu. Interventions that are population-based, and aimed towards prevention as opposed to treatment, are likely to be most effective in curtailing childhood obesity. Reforms to federal and state managed social welfare programs provide a compelling opportunity to affect the course and consequences of childhood obesity.