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Introduction: The recommendations about the preferred type of elective repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) still divides guidelines committees, even nowadays. The aim is to assess outcomes after AAA repair focusing on differences between endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and open surgical repair (OSR)., Methods: The observational retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients submitted to elective AAA repair at a tertiary center, 2009-2015. Exclusion criteria were as follows: nonelective cases or complex aortic aneurysms. Primary outcomes were postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, survival, freedom from aortic-related mortality, and vascular reintervention. Time trends were assessed along the period under analysis., Results: From a total of 211 included patients, those submitted to EVAR were older (74 ± 7 vs. 67 ± 9 years; P < 0.001), presented a higher prevalence of hypertension (83.5% vs. 68.5%, P = 0.004), obesity (28.7% vs. 14.3%, P = 0.029), previous cardiac revascularization (30.5% vs. 14.7%, P = 0.005), heart failure (17.2% vs. 5.2%, P = 0.013), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (32.8% vs. 13.3%, P = 0.002). Patients were followed during a median of 49 months. EVAR resulted in a significantly shorter length of hospital stay (median 4 and interquartile range 3 vs. 8 (9); P < 0.001), lower 30-day complications (10.6% vs. 22.8%, P = 0.017), lower aortic-related mortality, and similar reintervention after adjustment with a propensity score. Along the time under analysis, EVAR became the predominate type of repair (P = 0.024), the proportion of complications decreased (P = 0.014), and the 30-day mortality (P = 0.035)., Conclusions: Although EVAR was offered to patients with more comorbidities, better and durable outcomes were achieved after EVAR, favoring its adoption for elective AAA repair., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Although many studies show an inverse association between operator procedural volume and short-term adverse outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), the association between procedural volume and longer-term outcomes is unknown., Methods: Using the National Cardiovascular Data Registry CathPCI registry data linked with Medicare claims data, we examined the association between operator PCI volume and long-term outcomes among patients ≥65 years of age. Operators were stratified by average annual PCI volume (counting PCIs performed in patients of all ages): low- (<50 PCIs), intermediate- (50-100), and high- (>100) volume operators. One-year unadjusted rates of death and major adverse coronary events (MACEs; defined as death, readmission for myocardial infarction, or unplanned coronary revascularization) were calculated with Kaplan-Meier methods. The proportional hazards assumption was not met, and risk-adjusted associations between operator volume and outcomes were calculated separately from the time of PCI to hospital discharge and from hospital discharge to 1-year follow-up., Results: Between July 1, 2009, and December 31, 2014, 723 644 PCI procedures were performed by 8936 operators: 2553 high-, 2878 intermediate-, and 3505 low-volume operators. Compared with high- and intermediate-volume operators, low-volume operators more often performed emergency PCI, and their patients had fewer cardiovascular comorbidities. Over 1-year follow-up, 15.9% of patients treated by low-volume operators had a MACE compared with 16.9% of patients treated by high-volume operators ( P=0.004). After multivariable adjustment, intermediate- and high-volume operators had a significantly lower rate of in-hospital death than low-volume operators (odds ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86-0.96 for intermediate versus low; odds ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.75-0.83 for high versus low). There were no significant differences in rates of MACEs, death, myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization between operator cohorts from hospital discharge to 1-year follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio for MACEs, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.96-1.01 for intermediate versus low; hazard ratio, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.04 for high versus low)., Conclusions: Unadjusted 1-year outcomes after PCI were worse for older adults treated by operators with higher annual volume; however, patients treated by these operators had more cardiovascular comorbidities. After risk adjustment, higher operator volume was associated with lower in-hospital mortality and no difference in postdischarge MACEs.

Background: The appropriate use criteria considers cardiac stress testing within 2 years after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to be rarely appropriate, unless prompted by symptoms or change in clinical status. Little is known about the patterns of cardiac stress testing after PCI in the single-payer Canadian healthcare system, where mechanisms for reimbursement are different from the United States., Methods and Results: Frequency and timing of cardiac stress testing within 2 years of PCI performed between April 2004 and March 2013 in Ontario, Canada, was determined from linked provincial databases. Subsequent rates of coronary angiography and revascularization after stress testing were ascertained. Of the 112 691 patients with PCI, 67 442 (59.8%) underwent at least 1 stress test, with 38 267 (34.0%) undergoing repeat stress testing (ie, >1 stress test) within 2 years. Patients who underwent stress testing were younger, had less medical comorbidities, were more likely to reside in urban areas, and had higher incomes. Spikes in incidence of repeat stress testing were observed at 3 to 4 months, 6 to 7 months, and 12 to 13 months after the prior stress test. Of those tested, only 5.9% underwent subsequent coronary angiography, and only 3.1% underwent repeat revascularization within 60 days of stress testing., Conclusions: More than half of all patients undergo cardiac stress testing within 2 years of PCI, with one third undergoing repeat stress tests. Only 1 of 30 tested patients underwent repeat revascularization. These findings reinforce the appropriate use criteria recommendations against routine stress testing after PCI. Further work is needed to aid with the selection of patients most likely to benefit from stress testing after PCI., (© 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.)