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BackgroundThe interval between inpatient hospitalization for symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD) and post-discharge office consultation is a vulnerable period for adverse events.MethodsContent was customized on a smartphone app-based platform for hospitalized patients receiving PCI which included education, tracking, reminders and live health coaches. We conducted a single-arm open-label pilot study of the app at two academic medical centers in a single health system, with subjects enrolled 02/2018-05/2019 and 1:3 propensity-matched historical controls from 01/2015-12/2017. To evaluate feasibility and efficacy, we assessed 30-day hospital readmission (primary), outpatient cardiovascular follow-up, and cardiac rehabilitation (CR) enrollment as recorded in the health system. Outcomes were assessed by Cox Proportional Hazards model.Findings118 of 324 eligible (36·4%) 21-85 year-old patients who underwent PCI for symptomatic CAD who owned a smartphone or tablet enrolled. Mean age was 62.5 (9·7) years, 87 (73·7%) were male, 40 of 118 (33·9%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus, 68 (57·6%) enrolled underwent PCI for MI and 59 (50·0%) had previously known CAD; demographics were similar among matched historical controls. No significant difference existed in all-cause readmission within 30 days (8·5% app vs 9·6% control, ARR -1.1% absolute difference, 95% CI -7·1-4·8, p=0·699) or 90 days (16·1% app vs 19·5% control, p=0.394). Rates of both 90-day CR enrollment (HR 1·99, 95% CI 1·30-3·06) and 1-month cardiovascular follow up (HR 1·83, 95% CI 1·43-2·34) were greater with the app. Weekly engagement at 30- and 90-days, as measured by percentage of weeks with at least one day of completion of tasks, was mean (SD) 73·5% (33·9%) and 63·5% (40·3%). Spearman correlation analyses indicated similar engagement across age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors.InterpretationsA post-PCI smartphone app with live health coaches yielded similarly high engagement across demographics and safely increased attendance in cardiac rehabilitation. Larger prospective randomized controlled trials are necessary to test whether this app improves cardiovascular outcomes following PCI.FundingNational Institutes of Health, Boston Scientific.Clinical Trial RegistrationNCT03416920 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03416920).

This study sought to assess medical management of patients found to have nonobstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) performed in the emergency department (ED).Contemporary recognition and management of nonobstructive CAD discovered on CCTA performed in the ED is unknown.Patients undergoing CCTA in the authors' hospital's ED between November 2013 and March 2018 who also received primary care within the authors' health system were studied. All patients with nonobstructive CAD, defined as 1% to 49% maximum luminal stenosis on CCTA, were included, along with a control group without CAD in a 1 case:1 control fashion. Ten-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk prior to CCTA was estimated using the Pooled Cohort Equations. Management changes were recorded until 6 months after CCTA. Multivariate logistic regression tested the association between CCTA result and follow-up statin prescription, adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors and baseline statin use.The cohort included 510 patients with nonobstructive CAD and 510 controls. Prevalence of statin prescription increased from 38.8% to 56.1% among patients with nonobstructive CAD (p 0.001) and 18.0% to 20.4% among controls (p = 0.01), representing a 7.1-fold relative difference (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.4 to 23.0; p 0.001) in multivariate analysis. However, 30.0% of patients with nonobstructive CAD and ≥20% 10-year ASCVD risk were not prescribed a statin at the end of follow-up. Cardiologist evaluation was independently associated with statin prescription after adjustment for ASCVD risk factors (odds ratio [OR] 4.4; 95% CI: 2.4 to 8.5; p 0.001). A Coronary Artery Disease Reporting and Data System class 1 to 2 result was associated with lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 12.1 mg/dl at mean 1.9-year follow-up (p 0.001).Incidental subclinical atherosclerosis on CCTA performed in the ED increases the likelihood of statin prescription, but opportunities to improve allocation of indicated preventive therapies remain.

The period between inpatient hospitalization for symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD) and post-discharge office consultation remains a vulnerable interval for adverse outcomes. We sought to develop and evaluate a tool to help guide, reassure and educate patients during this susceptible time.

Evidence suggests coronary CT angiography (CCTA) improves cardiovascular risk stratification, use of preventive therapies, and outcomes. However, contemporary management of non-obstructive coronary disease (CAD) found on CCTA in the emergency department (ED) is not well described. We included