The American journal of cardiology
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Older patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) have persistently poor outcomes including frequent rehospitalization despite guidelines-based therapy. We hypothesized that such patients have multiple, severe impairments in physical function, cognition, and mood that are not addressed by current care pathways. We prospectively examined frailty, physical function, cognition, mood, and quality of life in 27 consecutive older patients with ADHF at 3 medical centers and compared these with 197 participants in 3 age-matched cohorts: stable heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (n = 80), stable HF with reduced ejection fraction (n = 56), and healthy older adults (n = 61). ⋯ Patients with ADHF had markedly reduced Short Physical Performance Battery score (5.3 ± 2.8) and 6-minute walk distance (178 ± 102 m) (p <0.001 vs other cohorts), with severe deficits in all domains of physical function: balance, mobility, strength, and endurance. In the patients with ADHF, cognitive impairment (78%) and depression (30%) were common, and quality of life was poor. In conclusion, older patients with ADHF are frequently frail with severe and widespread impairments in physical function, cognition, mood, and quality of life that may contribute to their persistently poor outcomes, are frequently unrecognized, are not addressed in current ADHF care paradigms, and are potentially modifiable with targeted interventions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Pharmacoinvasive and Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Strategies in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (from the Mayo Clinic STEMI Network).
The effectiveness of a pharmacoinvasive strategy consisting of fibrinolysis and transfer for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared to primary PCI (PPCI) in patients presenting to non-PCI-capable hospitals with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is not well defined. We analyzed data from the Mayo Clinic STEMI database of patients treated with a pharmacoinvasive strategy (favored in those presenting early after symptom onset) or PPCI in a regional STEMI network from 2004 to 2012. A total of 364 and 1,337 patients were included in the pharmacoinvasive and PPCI groups, respectively. ⋯ In multivariate analyses adjusting for age, gender, and other variables for which the 2 groups differed at baseline, there was no significant difference between the 2 strategies for 30-day (hazard ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.36 to 1.21) or overall mortality (hazard ratio 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.63 to 1.12). Shorter door-to-balloon time was associated with increased effectiveness of PPCI (p for trend = 0.015), but there was no difference between the 2 strategies even when considering only the patients with door-to-balloon time in the lowest quartile. In conclusion, fibrinolysis followed by transfer for PCI represents a reasonable alternative when PPCI is not readily available especially in patients presenting early after symptom onset.
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The 2014 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines on perioperative evaluation recommend differentiating patients at low risk (<1%) versus elevated risk (≥1%) for cardiac complications to guide appropriate preoperative testing. Among the tools recommended for estimating perioperative risk is the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Myocardial Infarction and Cardiac Arrest (MICA) risk calculator. We investigated whether the NSQIP MICA risk calculator would accurately discriminate adverse cardiac events in a cohort of adult patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery. ⋯ The mean estimated risk for adverse cardiac events using the NSQIP MICA risk calculator was 0.54%, which was not significantly different (p = 1) compared with the observed incidence of 0.64% (7 of 1,098 procedures). The c-statistic for discriminating adverse cardiac events was 0.85 (95% CI 0.67 to 1) for the NSQIP MICA risk calculator and 0.9 (95% CI 0.75 to 1) for the Revised Cardiac Risk Index. In conclusion, the NSQIP MICA risk calculator is a good discriminator of adverse cardiac events in patients undergoing elective hip and knee surgery, performing comparably to the Revised Cardiac Risk Index.
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Frailty is a syndrome of older adults associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We aimed to assess the impact of frailty status on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We reviewed all 191 patients who underwent a modified Fried frailty assessment before TAVI between February 2012 and September 2015 at a single academic medical center, and we assessed the impact of preoperative frailty status on morbidity, mortality, and health care utilization after TAVI. ⋯ The rate of discharge to a rehabilitation facility increased with increasing frailty status (14% nonfrail, 22% pre-frail, and 39% frail, p = 0.005). Frailty was independently associated with discharge to a rehabilitation facility (odds ratio 4.80, 95% confidence interval 1.66 to 13.85, p = 0.004). In conclusion, the safety of TAVI is not affected by frailty status, but patients with frailty are less likely to be discharged directly home after TAVI.
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The complex and often unpredictable course of heart failure (HF) provides many opportunities for communication between clinicians and patients about important subjects as advance care planning, disease state education, therapeutic options and limitations, and end-of-life care. Studies of patients with HF demonstrate that, when engaging in such complex communication, specific language matters in patient experience and in shared decision-making with providers. ⋯ In conclusion, specific phrasing may significantly impact patient experiences and outcomes. Communication that focuses on the disease itself and the therapy or intervention in question may help remove the patient from potential negative emotions, thus facilitating more objective shared decision-making with the clinician.