Circ Cardiovasc Qual
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Circ Cardiovasc Qual · Sep 2014
Association between success rate and citation count of studies of radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: possible evidence of citation bias.
The preferential citation of studies with the highest success rates could exaggerate perceived effectiveness, particularly for treatments with widely varying published success rates such as radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation. ⋯ Among studies of radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation, high success rate was independently associated with citation count, which may indicate citation bias. To readers of the literature, radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation could be perceived to be more effective than the data supports. These findings may have implications for a wide variety of novel cardiovascular therapies.
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Circ Cardiovasc Qual · Jul 2014
Sex, socioeconomic status, access to cardiac catheterization, and outcomes for acute coronary syndromes in the context of universal healthcare coverage.
Sex and neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) may independently affect the care and outcomes of acute coronary syndrome, partly through barriers in timely access to cardiac catheterization. We sought to determine whether sex modifies the association between nSES and the receipt of cardiac catheterization and mortality after an acute coronary syndrome in a universal healthcare system. ⋯ Associations between nSES and receipt of cardiac catheterization and 30-day mortality were noted for women but not men in a universal healthcare system. Care protocols designed to improve equity of access to care and outcomes are required, especially for low-income women.
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Circ Cardiovasc Qual · Jul 2014
Hospital variation in survival after pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest.
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. ⋯ 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. (