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BackgroundPatients with ischemic left ventricular dysfunction have higher operative risk with coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). However, those whose early risk is surpassed by subsequent survival benefit have not been identified.ObjectivesThis study sought to examine the impact of anatomic variables associated with poor prognosis on the effect of CABG in ischemic cardiomyopathy.MethodsAll 1,212 patients in the STICH (Surgical Treatment of IsChemic Heart failure) surgical revascularization trial were included. Patients had coronary artery disease (CAD) and ejection fraction (EF) of ≤35% and were randomized to receive CABG plus medical therapy or optimal medical therapy (OMT) alone. This study focused on 3 prognostic factors: presence of 3-vessel CAD, EF below the median (27%), and end-systolic volume index (ESVI) above the median (79 ml/m2). Patients were categorized as having 0 to 1 or 2 to 3 of these factors.ResultsPatients with 2 to 3 prognostic factors (n = 636) had reduced mortality with CABG compared with those who received OMT (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56 to 0.89; p = 0.004); CABG had no such effect in patients with 0 to 1 factor (HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.81 to 1.44; p = 0.591). There was a significant interaction between the number of factors and the effect of CABG on mortality (p = 0.022). Although 30-day risk with CABG was higher, a net beneficial effect of CABG relative to OMT was observed at >2 years in patients with 2 to 3 factors (HR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.75; p

Objectives The study objectives were to test the hypotheses that ischemia during stress testing has prognostic value and identifies those patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction who derive the greatest benefit from coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) compared with medical therapy. Background The clinical significance of stress-induced ischemia in patients with CAD and moderately to severely reduced LV ejection fraction (EF) is largely unknown. Methods The STICH (Surgical Treatment for IsChemic Heart Failure) trial randomized patients with CAD and EF ≤35% to CABG or medical therapy. In the current study, we assessed the outcomes of those STICH patients who underwent a radionuclide (RN) stress test or a dobutamine stress echocardiogram (DSE). A test was considered positive for ischemia by RN testing if the summed difference score (difference in tracer activity between stress and rest) was ≥4 or if ≥2 of 16 segments were ischemic during DSE. Clinical endpoints were assessed by intention to treat during a median follow-up of 56 months. Results Of the 399 study patients (51 women, mean EF 26 ± 8%), 197 were randomized to CABG and 202 were randomized to medical therapy. Myocardial ischemia was induced during stress testing in 256 patients (64% of the study population). Patients with and without ischemia were similar in age, multivessel CAD, previous myocardial infarction, LV EF, LV volumes, and treatment allocation (all p = NS). There was no difference between patients with and without ischemia in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio: 1.08; 95% confidence interval: 0.77 to 1.50; p = 0.66), cardiovascular mortality, or all-cause mortality plus cardiovascular hospitalization. There was no interaction between ischemia and treatment for any clinical endpoint. Conclusions In CAD with severe LV dysfunction, inducible myocardial ischemia does not identify patients with worse prognosis or those with greater benefit from CABG over optimal medical therapy. (Comparison of Surgical and Medical Treatment for Congestive Heart Failure and Coronary Artery Disease [STICH]; NCT00023595 )

Objectives The aim of this study was to confirm the generalizability of the conclusions of the STICH (Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure) trial. Background Surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) added to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) did not decrease death or cardiac hospitalization in STICH patients randomized to CABG with (n = 501) or without (n = 499) SVR. Methods Baseline clinical characteristics of 1,000 STICH SVR hypothesis patients and 1,036 STICH-eligible Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Cardiac Database patients undergoing CABG plus SVR were entered into a multivariate model equation to predict a mortality that placed these 2,036 patients in 1 of 32 risk at randomization (RAR) groups. The number of patients in each RAR group profiled the risk of STICH treatment arms and of STICH and STS STICH-eligible patients. Results That 85% of the 1,000 STICH patients known to have no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the 2 treatment arms shared the same RAR group suggests that the RAR methodology has sufficient accuracy to compare RAR profiles of STICH and STS patients. RAR group was shared by 1,522 of 2,036 STICH and STS STICH-eligible patients (75%) who underwent CABG plus SVR. Differences in baseline characteristics responsible for more low-risk STICH patients and more high-risk STS patients were modest. Cox proportional hazard ratios of 1,000 STICH patients in 3 RAR groups suggested by STICH and STS RAR differences showed no differential treatment effect on survival across the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups. Conclusions The STICH conclusion of no benefit from adding SVR to CABG applies to a broad spectrum of CABG-eligible patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. (Comparison of Surgical and Medical Treatment for Congestive Heart Failure and Coronary Artery Disease; NCT00023595)

Objectives We sought to examine the characteristics, quality of care, and clinical outcomes for a large cohort of African-American patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) in centers participating in a quality improvement initiative. Background Heart failure in African Americans is characterized by variations in natural history, lesser response to evidence-based therapies, and disparate health care. We hypothesized that a performance improvement program will achieve similar adherence to quality measures in African Americans admitted with HF compared with non–African Americans. Methods The OPTIMIZE-HF (Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment in Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure) registry-based performance-improvement program includes a pre-specified 10% subgroup with 60- to 90-day follow-up. Data on quality of care measures and outcomes were analyzed for 8,608 African-American patients compared with 38,501 non–African-American patients. Results African Americans were significantly younger and more likely to receive evidence-based medications but less likely to receive discharge instructions and smoking cessation counseling. In multivariable analyses, African-American race was an independent predictor of lower in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 0.71; 95% confidence interval 0.57 to 0.87; p Conclusions In the context of a performance-improvement program, African Americans with HF received similar or better treatment with evidence-based medications, less discharge counseling, had better in-hospital survival, and similar adjusted risk of follow-up death/repeat hospital stay. (Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment In Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure [OPTIMIZE-HF]; NCT00344513)

We sought to examine the characteristics, quality of care, and clinical outcomes for a large cohort of African-American patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) in centers participating in a quality improvement initiative.Heart failure in African Americans is characterized by variations in natural history, lesser response to evidence-based therapies, and disparate health care. We hypothesized that a performance improvement program will achieve similar adherence to quality measures in African Americans admitted with HF compared with non-African Americans.The OPTIMIZE-HF (Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment in Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure) registry-based performance-improvement program includes a pre-specified 10% subgroup with 60- to 90-day follow-up. Data on quality of care measures and outcomes were analyzed for 8,608 African-American patients compared with 38,501 non-African-American patients.African Americans were significantly younger and more likely to receive evidence-based medications but less likely to receive discharge instructions and smoking cessation counseling. In multivariable analyses, African-American race was an independent predictor of lower in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 0.71; 95% confidence interval 0.57 to 0.87; p0.001) but similar hospital length of stay. After multivariable adjustment, post-discharge outcomes were similar for American-American and non-African-American patients, but African-American race was associated with higher angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor prescription and left ventricular function assessment; no other HF quality indicators were influenced by race.In the context of a performance-improvement program, African Americans with HF received similar or better treatment with evidence-based medications, less discharge counseling, had better in-hospital survival, and similar adjusted risk of follow-up death/repeat hospital stay.

Prior retrospective studies of patients with ischemic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction suggest that severity of LV remodeling affects the relation between myocardial viability and survival with surgical (CABG) or medical (MED) therapy, such that patients who benefit from CABG are those with viable