Faculty Bibliography

In patients with severe peripheral vascular disease, the common femoral artery may be so diseased as to not allow for deployment of mechanical circulatory support (MCS) such as in the setting of cardiogenic shock (CS). We sought to study the feasibility of axillary artery as alternative access for MCS in CS patients with severe occlusive peripheral artery disease (PAD). Records of all patients who presented with CS requiring MCS through axillary artery access from January 2016 to October 2017 were examined. Demographics, clinical, procedural, and outcomes data were collected on all patients. A total of 17 patients (mean age 68 ± 14years, 95% men) were identified. This was due to severe PAD in the iliac and/or common femoral arteries prohibiting large bore sheath access in allcases. Of the 17 patients, 9 required percutaneous coronary intervention. Time from axillary access to activation of Impella was 14.8 ± 4 minutes. Three patients required concomitant Impella RP for right ventricular support due to biventricular CS. Twelve patients died before Impella was explanted due to multiorgan failure, stroke, and infection. None of the patients who died had vascular complications related to axillary access. All 5 patients who survived to Impella explant were discharged from the hospital without major complication. Axillary artery is a safe and feasible alternative access for large bore devices in patients with prohibitive PAD. The meticulous technique described assures a very low rate of access related complications.

IMPORTANCE: Previous data on septal myectomy (SM) and alcohol septal ablation (ASA) in obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy have been limited to small, nonrandomized, single-center studies. Use of septal reduction therapy and the effect of institutional experience on procedural outcomes nationally are unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine in-hospital outcomes after SM and ASA stratified by hospital volume within a large, national inpatient database. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This study analyzed all patients who were hospitalized for SM or ASA in a nationwide inpatient database from January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2011. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Rates of adverse in-hospital events (death, stroke, bleeding, acute renal failure, and need for permanent pacemaker) were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to compare overall outcomes after each procedure based on tertiles of hospital volume of SM and ASA. RESULTS: Of 71888761 discharge records reviewed, a total of 11248 patients underwent septal reduction procedures, of whom 6386 (56.8%) underwent SM and 4862 (43.2%) underwent ASA. A total of 59.9% of institutions performed 10 SM procedures or fewer, whereas 66.9% of institutions performed 10 ASA procedures or fewer during the study period. Incidence of in-hospital death (15.6%, 9.6%, and 3.8%; P < .001), need for permanent pacemaker (10.0%, 13.8%, and 8.9%; P < .001), and bleeding complications (3.3%, 3.8%, and 1.7%; P < .001) after SM was lower in higher-volume centers when stratified by first, second, and third tertiles of hospital volume, respectively. Similarly, there was a lower incidence of death (2.3%, 0.8%, and 0.6%; P = .02) and acute renal failure (6.2%, 7.6%, and 2.4%; P < .001) after ASA in higher-volume centers. The lowest tertile of SM volume among hospitals was an independent predictor of in-hospital all-cause mortality (adjusted odds ratio, 3.11; 95% CI, 1.98-4.89) and bleeding (adjusted odds ratio, 3.77; 95% CI, 2.12-6.70), whereas being in the lowest tertile of ASA by volume was not independently associated with an increased risk of adverse postprocedural events. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In US hospitals from 2003 through 2011, most centers that provide septal reduction therapy performed few SM and ASA procedures, which is below the threshold recommended by the 2011 American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Low SM volume was associated with worse outcomes, including higher mortality, longer length of stay, and higher costs. More efforts are needed to encourage referral of patients to centers of excellence for septal reduction therapy.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to identify the temporal trends of presenting diagnoses and vascular procedures performed for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) along with the rates of procedures and in-hospital outcomes by payer status. BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or lack of insurance receive poorer quality of care leading to worse outcomes. METHODS: We analyzed 196,461,055 discharge records to identify all hospitalized patients with PAD records (n=1,687,724) from January 2007 through December 2011 in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. RESULTS: The annual frequency of vascular procedures remained unchanged during the study period. Patients with Medicaid were more likely to present with gangrenes, whereas patients with Medicare were more likely to present with ulcers. After adjustment, patients with Medicare and Medicaid were more likely to undergo amputations when compared with private insurance/HMO (OR=1.13, 95% CI=1.10-1.16 and OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.20-1.29, respectively). Patients with both Medicare and Medicaid were less likely to undergo bypass surgery (OR=0.82, 95% CI=0.81-0.84 and OR=0.87, 95% CI=0.85-0.90, respectively), but more likely to undergo endovascular procedures (OR=1.18, 95% CI=1.17-1.20 and OR=1.03, 95% CI=1.01-1.06, respectively). Medicare and Medicaid status versus private insurance/HMO was associated with worse adjusted odds of in-hospital outcomes, including mortality after amputations, endovascular procedures, and bypass surgeries. CONCLUSIONS: In this analysis, patients with Medicare and Medicaid had more comorbid conditions at baseline when compared with private insurance/HMO cohorts, were more likely to present with advanced stages of PAD, undergo amputations, and develop in-hospital complications. These data unveil a critical gap and an opportunity for quality improvement in the elderly and those with poor socioeconomic status.

BACKGROUND: Following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), elevations in serum creatinine level and declines in glomerular filtration rate are common. Prior studies have demonstrated benefit of chronic statin therapy in the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN); however, it is unknown whether chronic statin therapy reduces the incidence of CIN in the non-emergent PCI setting. METHODS: Using the 2004-2005 Cornell Angioplasty Registry, a total of 1171 consecutive patients were selected for analysis. The population was divided into two groups: (1) patients on chronic (>/=30 days) statin therapy prior to PCI (n = 874); and (2) patients not on chronic statin therapy (n = 297). RESULTS: Patients taking chronic statin therapy were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (35.7% vs 22.6%; P<.001), previous myocardial infarction (36.3% vs 20.5%; P<.001), previous PCI (38.9% vs 16.2%; P<.001), and previous coronary artery bypass graft surgery (19.5% vs 11.4%; P=.01). Statin users were also more likely to be taking long-term aspirin (77.8% vs 59.6%; P<.001) and clopidogrel therapy (29.9% vs 14.1%; P<.001). Baseline serum creatinine levels were comparable between the two groups, as were procedural characteristics. The incidence of CIN following PCI was not significantly different between patients on chronic statin therapy versus those not on chronic statin therapy (4.2% vs 5.4%; P=.42). However, after multivariate adjustment, chronic statin therapy was associated with a lower incidence of CIN (odds ratio [OR], 0.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.05-0.94; P=.04). Acute heart failure on admission and the urgency of the procedure (urgent vs elective PCI) were also independent predictors for developing CIN (OR, 3.04; 95% CI, 1.45-6.66 [P=.01] and OR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.42-5.55 [P=.01], respectively). Long-term mortality rates were similar between those on chronic statin therapy and those not on statins. CONCLUSION: CIN occurred in 4.5% of patients following non-emergent PCI. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that chronic statin therapy decreased the odds of developing CIN in patients undergoing PCI.

OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate the variety of stent abnormalities that may be evaluated by coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA). BACKGROUND: The application of CTA to the evaluation of coronary stents has focused almost entirely on the detection of in-stent restenosis. METHODS: All CTA performed for stent evaluation at a single institution were reviewed. RESULTS: In addition to in-stent restenosis, stent fracture, and overlap failure, a multiplicity of stent-related problems not previously addressed by CTA was categorized and illustrated: late stent thrombosis, jailed branches, edge stenosis, bifurcation stents, inadequate stent expansion, stent aneurysms, peri-stent plaque, and stenting into bridged myocardium. CONCLUSIONS: CTA may be used to evaluate the full range of stent-related problems. This work provides the framework for future studies validating these applications.