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Cardiovascular risk has traditionally been defined by modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, such as tobacco use, hyperlipidemia, and family history. However, chemicals and pollutants may also play a role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that is widely distributed in the Earth's crust. Inorganic arsenic (iAs) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, with chronic high-dose exposure to iAs (> 100 µg/L) being linked to CVD; however, whether low-to-moderate dose exposures of iAs (< 100 µg/L) are associated with the development of CVD is unclear. Due to limitations of the existing literature, it is difficult to define a threshold for iAs toxicity. Studies demonstrate that the effect of iAs on CVD is far more complex with influences from several factors, including diet, genetics, metabolism, and traditional risk factors such as hypertension and smoking. In this article, we review the existing data of low-to-moderate dose iAs exposure and its effect on CVD, along with highlighting the potential mechanisms of action., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Risk models and risk scores derived from those models require periodic updating to account for changes in procedural performance, patient mix, and new risk factors added to existing systems. No risk model or risk score exists for predicting in-hospital/30-day mortality for percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) using contemporary data. This study develops an updated risk model and simplified risk score for in-hospital/30-day mortality following PCI. To accomplish this, New York's Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Reporting System was used to develop a logistic regression model and a simplified risk score model for predicting in-hospital/30-day mortality and to validate both models based on New York data from the previous year. A total of 54,770 PCI patients from 2019 were used to develop the models. Twelve different risk factors and 27 risk factor categories were used in the models. Both models displayed excellent discrimination for the development and validation samples (range from 0.894 to 0.896) and acceptable calibration, but the full logistic model had superior calibration, particularly among higher-risk patients. In conclusion, both the PCI risk model and its simplified risk score model provide excellent discrimination and although the full risk model requires the use of a hand-held device for estimating individual patient risk, it provides somewhat better calibration, especially among higher-risk patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: There is very little information about the use of ad hoc percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in stable patients with multivessel (MV) disease or unprotected left main (LM) disease patients for whom a heart team approach is recommended., Objective: To identify the extent of ad hoc PCI utilization for patients with multivessel disease or left main disease, and to explore the inter-hospital variation in ad hoc PCI utilization for those patients., Methods: New York State's cardiac registries were used to examine the use and variation in use of ad hoc PCI for MV/LM disease as a percentage of all MV/LM PCIs and revascularizations (PCIs plus coronary artery bypass graft procedures) during 2018 to 2019 in New York., Results: After exclusions, 6,425 of the 8,196 stable PCI patients with MV/LM disease (78.4%) underwent ad hoc PCI, ranging from 58.7% for patients with unprotected LM disease to 85.4% for patients with 2-vessel proximal left anterior descending (PLAD) disease. Ad hoc PCIs comprised 35.1% of all revascularizations, ranging from 11.5% for patients with unprotected LM disease to 63.9% for patients with 2-vessel PLAD disease. The risk-adjusted utilization of ad hoc PCI as a percentage of all revascularizations varied widely among hospitals (eg, from 15% in the first quartile to 46% in the last quartile for 3-vessel disease)., Conclusions: Ad hoc PCIs occur frequently even among patients with MV/LM disease. This is particularly true among patients with 2-vessel PLAD disease. The frequency of ad hoc PCIs is lower but still high among patients with diabetes and low ejection fraction and higher in hospitals without surgery on-site (SOS). Given the magnitude of hospital- and physician-level variation in the use of ad hoc PCIs for such patients, consideration should be given to a systems approach to achieving heart team consultation and shared decision making that is consistent for SOS and non-SOS hospitals., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures This study was partially funded by the New York State Department of Health. The findings do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Department. The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: COVID-19 has disrupted the care of all patients, and little is known about its impact on the utilization and short-term mortality of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients, particularly nonemergency patients., Methods: New York State's PCI registry was used to study the utilization of PCI and the presence of COVID-19 in four patient subgroups ranging in severity from ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) to elective patients before (December 01, 2018-February 29, 2020) and during the COVID-19 era (March 01, 2020-May 31, 2021), as well as to examine the impact of different COVID severity levels on the mortality of different types of PCI patients., Results: Decreases in the mean quarterly PCI volume from the prepandemic period to the first quarter of the pandemic ranged from 20% for STEMI patients to 61% for elective patients, with the other two subgroups having decreases in between these values. PCI quarterly volume rebounds from the prepandemic period to the second quarter of 2021 were in excess of 90% for all patient subgroups, and 99.7% for elective patients. Existing COVID-19 was rare among PCI patients, ranging from 1.74% for STEMI patients to 3.66% for elective patients. PCI patients with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who were not intubated, and PCI patients with COVID-19 and ARDS who were either intubated or were not intubated because of Do Not Resuscitate//Do Not Intubate status had higher risk-adjusted mortality ([adjusted ORs = 10.81 [4.39, 26.63] and 24.53 [12.06, 49.88], respectively]) than patients who never had COVID-19., Conclusions: There were large decreases in the utilization of PCI during COVID-19, with the percentage of decrease being highly sensitive to patient acuity. By the second quarter of 2021, prepandemic volumes were nearly restored for all patient subgroups. Very few PCI patients had current COVID-19 throughout the pandemic period, but the number of PCI patients with a COVID-19 history increased steadily during the pandemic. PCI patients with COVID-19 accompanied by ARDS were at much higher risk of short-term mortality than patients who never had COVID-19. COVID-19 without ARDS and history of COVID-19 were not associated with higher mortality for PCI patients as of the second quarter of 2021., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Little is known about patients who die shortly after discharge following any procedures, including percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Our aim was to explore the implications of using 30-day deaths after discharge as part of a quality measure for PCI., Methods: New York State's PCI registry was used to find PCI deaths that occurred after discharge within 30 days of the procedure from January 1, 2015, to November 30, 2017. Patient risk factors and hospital risk-adjusted 30-day mortality before and after discharge were also investigated., Results: A total of 2121 (1.55%) patients who underwent PCI died within 30 days of the index procedure, and 730 (34.4%) deaths occurred after discharge, with 30% of deaths after discharge (10% of all deaths) occurring during readmission. Among nonemergency patients, 56% of 30-day deaths occurred after discharge. No risk-adjusted 30-day in-hospital and after-discharge hospital mortality outliers were in common. Only 4 of 10 low outliers and 6 of 10 high outliers for 30-day in-hospital mortality and 30-day total (in-hospital plus after-discharge) mortality were in common., Conclusions: A large percentage of early deaths after PCI occur after discharge, particularly among lower-risk patients. Future efforts should be focused on monitoring these patients. Hospital risk-adjusted mortality assessments are impacted substantially by inclusion of after-discharge deaths, and decisions about their inclusion will affect quality assessment and public reporting initiatives. The pros and cons of including them should be examined carefully., (© 2022 The Authors.)

The relation between operator volume and mortality of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) procedures for ST-elevation myocardial infarction has not been studied comprehensively. This study included patients who underwent PPCI between 2010 and 2017 in all nonfederal hospitals approved to perform PCI in New York State. We compared risk-adjusted in-hospital/30-day mortality for radial access (RA) and femoral access (FA) and the relation between risk-adjusted mortality and procedure volume for each access site. In 44,540 patients in the study period, the use of RA rose from 8% in 2,010% to 43% in 2017 (p <0.0001). There was no significant change in PPCI risk-adjusted mortality during the period (p=0.27 for trend). RA was associated with lower mortality when imposing operator exclusion criteria used in recent trials. There was a significant operator inverse volume-mortality relation for FA procedures but not for RA procedures. FA procedures performed by lower volume FA operators (lowest quartile) were associated with higher risk-adjusted mortality compared with RA procedures (3.71% vs 3.06%, p = 0.01) or compared with FA procedures performed by higher volume FA operators (3.71% vs 3.16%, p = 0.01). In conclusion, in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction referred for primary PCI in New York State, there was a significant uptake in the use of RA along with relatively constant in-hospital/30-day mortality. There was a significant inverse operator volume-mortality relation for FA procedures accompanied by higher mortality for FA procedures performed by low volume FA operators than for all other primary PCI procedures. In conclusion, this information underscores the need for operators to remain vigilant in maintaining FA skills and monitoring FA outcomes., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has several benefits during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), including more accurate vessel sizing, improved stent expansion, and better strut apposition. Prior clinical trials have demonstrated a reduction in cardiac events when IVUS is used. However, there is limited information about the utilization of IVUS and the outcomes of IVUS-guided versus angiography-guided PCI in patients with complex lesions in a contemporary population-based setting., Methods: New York's PCI registry was used to identify 44 305 patients with complex lesions (lesions that complicate stenting or that require multiple stents) undergoing PCI with and without IVUS guidance and discharged between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2018. Trends and inter-hospital variation in IVUS use were examined. Risk-adjusted mortality and target vessel revascularization were compared., Results: A total of 6174 (13.9%) PCI patients underwent IVUS-guided PCI. The median follow-up period was 2.5 years. The percent of patients with complex lesions who underwent IVUS-guided PCI rose from 13.4% in 2014 to 16.5% in 2018 ( P <0.0001 for trend), with the main increases occurring in the last 2 years of the period. Only 31 of 66 hospitals in the study used IVUS for >5% of their study patients. IVUS-guided PCI patients experienced significantly lower mortality (adjusted hazard ratio=0.89 [0.79-0.98] after adjustment using a Cox proportional hazards model, and HR=0.88 [0.78-0.99] for propensity-matched patients). We also found that IVUS-guided PCI patients had a lower rate of target vessel revascularization (adjusted hazard ratio=0.88 [0.80-0.97]) after adjusting using Cox proportional hazards with competing risk of mortality and after propensity matching (0.88 [0.79-0.99])., Conclusions: Utilization of IVUS for complex lesions has increased but contemporary rates remain low, and there are large inter-hospital variations. The use of IVUS for complex lesions was associated with lower risk of medium-term mortality and target vessel revascularization.

Background: Numerous studies have identified the association of socioeconomic factors with outcomes of cardiac surgical procedures. Most have focused on easily measured demographic factors or on socioeconomic characteristics of patients' 5-digit zip codes. The impact of socioeconomic information that is derived from smaller geographic regions has rarely been studied., Methods: The association of the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) with short-term mortality and readmissions was tested for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in New York while adjusting for numerous patient risk factors, including race, ethnicity, and payer. Changes in hospitals' risk-adjusted outcomes and outlier status with the addition of socioeconomic factors were examined., Results: After adjustment, patients in the 2 most deprived ADI quintiles were more likely to experience in-hospital and 30-day mortality after PCI (adjusted odds ratios [95% confidence intervals] 1.39 [1.18-1.65] and 1.24 [1.03-1.49], respectively), than patients in the first quintile (least deprived). Also, patients in the second and fifth ADI quintiles had higher 30-day readmissions rates than patients in the first quintile (1.12 [1.01-1.25] and 1.17 [1.04-1.32], respectively). Medicare patients had higher mortality and readmission rates, Hispanics had lower mortality, and Medicaid patients had higher readmission rates., Conclusions: Patients with the most deprived ADIs are more likely to experience short-term mortality and readmissions after PCI. Ethnicity and payer are significantly associated with adverse outcomes even after adjusting for ADI. This information should be considered when identifying patients who are at the highest risk for adverse events after PCI and when risk-adjusting hospital outcomes and assessing quality of care., (Copyright © 2021 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Hybrid coronary revascularization (HCR) combines a minimally invasive surgical approach to the left anterior descending (LAD) artery with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for non-LAD diseased coronary arteries. It is associated with shorter hospital lengths of stay and recovery times than conventional coronary artery bypass surgery, but there is little information comparing it to isolated PCI for multivessel disease. Our objective is to compare long-term outcomes of HCR and PCI for patients with multivessel disease., Methods: This cohort study used data from New York's cardiac surgery and PCI registries in 2010-2016 to examine mortality and repeat revascularization rates for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease who underwent HCR and PCI. Cox proportional hazards methods were used to reduce selection bias. Patients were followed for a median of four years., Results: There was a total of 335 HCR patients (1.2%) and 25,557 PCI patients (98.8%) after exclusions. There was no difference in 6-year risk adjusted survival between HCR and PCI patients (83.17% vs . 81.65%, adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.90 (95% CI: 0.67-1.20). However, HCR patients were more likely to be free from repeat revascularization in the LAD artery (91.13% vs . 83.59%, aHR = 0.51 (95% CI: 0.34-0.77))., Conclusions: For patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease, HCR is rarely performed. There are no differences in mortality rates after four years, but HCR is associated with lower repeat revascularization rates in the LAD artery, presumably due to better longevity in left arterial mammary grafts., (Copyright and License information: Journal of Geriatric Cardiology 2021.)

Little is known about regional differences in volume, treatment, and outcomes of STEMI patients undergoing PCI during the pandemic. The objectives of this study were to compare COVID-19 pandemic and prepandemic periods with respect to regional volumes, outcomes, and treatment of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) between January 1, 2019 and March 14, 2020 (pre-COVID period) and between March 15, 2020 and April 4, 2020 (COVID period) in 51 New York State hospitals certified to perform PCI. The hospitals were classified as being in either high-density or low-density COVID-19 counties on the basis of deaths/10,000 population. There was a decrease of 43% in procedures/week in high-density COVID-19 counties (p <0.0001) and only 4% in low-density counties (p = 0.64). There was no difference in the change in risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality rates in either type of county, but STEMI PCI patients in high-density counties had longer times from symptom onset to hospital arrival and lower cardiac arrest rates in the pandemic period. In conclusion, the decrease in STEMI PCIs during the pandemic was mainly limited to counties with a high density of COVID-19 deaths. The decrease appears to be primarily related to patients not presenting to hospitals in high-density COVID regions, rather than PCI being avoided in STEMI patients or a reduction in the incidence of STEMI. Also, high-density COVID-19 counties experienced delayed admissions and less severely ill STEMI PCI patients during the pandemic. This information can serve to focus efforts on convincing STEMI patients to seek life-saving hospital care during the pandemic., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Target lesion percutaneous coronary intervention (TLPCI) within 1 year of PCI has been proposed by critics of public reporting of short-term mortality as an alternative measure for PCI reporting., Methods: New York's PCI registry was used to identify 1-year repeat TLPCI and 1-year repeat TLPCI/mortality for patients discharged between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2014. Significant independent predictors of the outcomes were identified. Hospital and cardiologist risk-adjusted outcomes were calculated, and outlier status and correlations of risk-adjusted rates were examined for the three outcomes., Results: The adverse outcome rates were 1.30, 4.21, and 8.97% for in-hospital/30-day mortality, 1-year repeat TLPCI, and 1-year repeat TLPCI/mortality. There were many commonalities but also many differences in significant predictors of the outcomes. Hospital and cardiologist risk-adjusted 1-year repeat TLPCI rates and repeat TLPCI/mortality rates were poorly correlated with risk-adjusted in-hospital/30-day mortality rates (eg, Spearman R = -.16 [p = .23] and .27 [p = .04], respectively, for hospital 1-year repeat TLPCI vs. in-hospital/30-day mortality). Many more providers were found to have significantly higher and lower rates for repeat TLPCI than for short-term mortality., Conclusions: Hospital and cardiologist quality assessments are very different for TLPCI and repeat TLPCI/mortality than they are for short-term mortality. Repeat TLPCI/mortality rates are highly correlated with repeat TLPCI rates, but outlier providers differ. More study of repeat TLPCI and all the patient, cardiologist, and hospital factors associated with it may be required before using it as a supplement to, or in lieu of, short-term mortality in public reporting of PCI outcomes., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: To compare mortality for women and men hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by age and revascularization status., Background: There is little information on the mortality of men and women not undergoing revascularization, and the impact of age on relative male-female mortality needs to be revisited., Methods and Results: An observational database of 23,809 patients with STEMI presenting at nonfederal New York State hospitals between 2013 and 2015 was used to compare risk-adjusted inhospital/30-day mortality for women and men and to explore the impact of age on those differences. Women had significantly higher mortality than men overall (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.15, 95% CI [1.04, 1.28]), and among patients aged 65 and older. Women had lower revascularization rates in general (AOR = 0.64 [0.59, 0.69]) and for all age groups. Among revascularized STEMI patients, women overall (AOR = 1.30 [1.10, 1.53]) and over 65 had higher mortality than men. Among patients not revascularized, women between the ages of 45 and 64 had lower mortality (AOR = 0.68 [0.48, 0.97])., Conclusions: Women with STEMI, and especially older women, had higher inhospital/30-day mortality rates than their male counterparts. Women had higher mortality among revascularized patients, but not among patients who were not revascularized., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac rhythm disturbance and is associated with increased risk of thromboembolism. Oral anticoagulants are effective at reducing rates of thromboembolism in patients with AF in the general population. Patients with AF and concurrent chronic kidney disease (CKD) have higher risk of thromboembolism and bleeding compared with patients with normal renal function. Among moderate CKD and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on chronic dialysis, the use of oral anticoagulants is controversial. Use of warfarin, while beneficial in non-CKD patients, raises a number of concerns such as increased bleeding risk, labile anticoagulant effect, and calciphylaxis, especially in the ESRD population. The newer direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) agents have demonstrated comparable efficacy and improved safety profiles compared with coumadin but are not as well studied in the CKD population. This review highlights the efficacy and safety of coumadin and the DOACs for thromboembolism prophylaxis in non-valvular AF patients with CKD.

Background: Many studies have revealed no outcome differences among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in hospitals with and without surgery on-site (SOS), but one earlier study found differences in target vessel PCI rates and in mortality for patients with acute myocardial infarction who did not undergo PCI. It is important to examine outcome differences between SOS and non-SOS hospitals with more contemporary data., Methods and Results: A total of 21 924 propensity-matched patients who were discharged between January 1, 2013, and November 30, 2015, who were in the New York PCI registry and other hospital databases were used to compare outcomes in hospitals with and without SOS for all patients and for patients with and without ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing PCI. Also, 30-day mortality was compared for patients with STEMI regardless of whether they underwent PCI. For all patients with PCI and patients without STEMI, there were no significant differences in in-hospital/30-day mortality, 2-year mortality, or 2-year repeat target lesion PCI. For patients with STEMI, there were no significant mortality differences between patients in SOS and non-SOS hospitals. Patients with STEMI in SOS hospitals had significantly lower 2-year repeat target lesion PCI rates (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.68 [0.49-0.94]). There was no difference in the percentage of patients undergoing PCI in the 2 types of hospitals (75.7% versus 74.6%; P=0.21) or in 30-day mortality of all patients with STEMI (patients who did and did not undergo PCI, 10.86% versus 11.32%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.06 [0.88-1.29])., Conclusions: Short-term and long-term outcomes were not different in SOS and non-SOS hospitals except that 2-year repeat target lesion PCI rates were lower in SOS hospitals for patients with STEMI.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to revisit cases rated as "inappropriate" in the 2012 appropriate use criteria (AUC) using the 2017 AUC., Background: AUC for coronary revascularization in patients with stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD) were released in January 2017. Earlier 2012 AUC identified a relatively high percentage of New York State patients for whom percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was rated as "inappropriate" versus optimal medical therapy alone., Methods: New York State's PCI registry was used to rate inappropriateness of patients undergoing PCI in 2014 using the 2012 and 2017 AUC, and to examine patient characteristics for patients rated differently., Results: A total of 911 of 9,261 (9.8%) patients who underwent PCI in New York State in 2014 with SIHD without prior coronary artery bypass grafting were rated as "inappropriate" using the 2012 AUC, but only 171 (1.8%) patients were rated as "rarely appropriate" ("inappropriate" in 2012 AUC terminology) using the 2017 AUC. A total of 26% of all 8,407 patients undergoing PCI in New York State with 1- to 2-vessel SIHD were without high-risk findings on noninvasive testing and were either asymptomatic or without antianginal therapy. No current or past randomized controlled trials have focused on these patients., Conclusions: The percentage of 2014 New York State PCI patients with SIHD who are rated "rarely appropriate" has decreased substantially using 2017 AUC in comparison with the older 2012 AUC. However, for many low-risk patients undergoing the procedure, the relative benefits of optimal medical therapy with and without PCI are unknown. Randomized controlled trials are needed to study these groups., (Copyright © 2018 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Many studies have compared outcomes for incomplete revascularization (IR) among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), but little is known about whether outcomes are related to the nature of the IR., Objective: To determine whether some coronary vessel characteristics are associated with worse outcomes in patients with PCI with IR., Design, Setting, and Participants: New York's PCI registry was used to examine mortality (median follow-up, 3.4 years) as a function of the number of vessels that were incompletely revascularized, the stenosis in those vessels, and whether the proximal left anterior descending artery was incompletely revascularized after controlling for other factors associated with mortality for patients with and without ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This was a multicenter study (all nonfederal PCI hospitals in New York State) that included 41 639 New York residents with multivessel coronary artery disease undergoing PCI in New York State between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2012., Exposures: Percutaneous coronary interventions, with complete and incomplete revascularization., Main Outcomes and Measures: Medium-term mortality., Results: For patients with STEMI, the mean age was 62.8 years; 26.2% were women, 11.9% were Hispanic, and 81.5% were white. For other patients, the mean age was 66.6 years, 29.1% were women, 11.3% were Hispanic, and 79.1% were white. Incomplete revascularization was very common (78% among patients with STEMI and 71% among other patients). Patients with IR in a vessel with at least 90% stenosis were at higher risk than other patients with IR. This was not significant among patients with STEMI (17.18% vs 12.86%; adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 1.16; 95% CI, 0.99-1.37) and significant among patients without STEMI (17.71% vs 12.96%; AHR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.07-1.24). Similarly, patients with IR in 2 or more vessels had higher mortality than patients with completely revascularization and higher mortality than other patients with IR among patients with STEMI (20.37% vs 14.39%; AHR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.15-1.59) and among patients without STEMI (20.10% vs 12.86%; AHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.09-1.59). Patients with proximal left anterior descending artery vessel IR had higher mortality than other patients with IR (20.09% vs 14.67%; AHR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.04-1.64 for patients with STEMI and 20.78% vs 15.62%; AHR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01-1.23 for patients without STEMI). More than 20% of all PCI patients had IR of 2 or more vessels and more than 30% had IR with more than 90% stenosis., Conclusions and Relevance: Patients with IR are at higher risk of mortality if they have IR with at least 90% stenosis, IR in 2 or more vessels, or proximal left anterior descending IR.

Background: Many studies have compared outcomes for incomplete revascularization (IR) among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), but little is known about the correlates of IR, the extent to which complete revascularization (CR) was attempted unsuccessfully, and the variation across operators in the use of IR., Methods: New York's PCI registry was used to examine medium-term mortality for IR, the variables associated with the use of IR, and the variation across operators in the utilization of IR after controlling for patient factors., Results: Incomplete revascularization occurred for 63% of all patients and was significantly associated with higher 3-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio1.35, 95% CI 1.23-1.48) than for CR. A total of 96% of all attempted CRs were successful. Operators with 15 or fewer years in practice (the lowest half) used IR significantly more (65% vs 61%, adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.17, 95% CI 1.00-1.37) than other operators, and operators with annual volumes of 171 or lower (the lowest 3 quartiles) used IR more than other operators (68% vs 60%, AOR 1.35, 95% CI 1.14-1.59). Also, hospitals with annual volumes of 645 and lower (the lowest 50% of hospitals) used IR more (67% vs 62%, AOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.07-1.99) than other hospitals., Conclusions: Percutaneous coronary intervention patients without myocardial infarction who undergo IR continue to have higher medium-term (3-year) risk-adjusted mortality rates. There is a large amount of variability among operators in the frequency with which IR occurs. Operators who have been in practice longer, and higher-volume operators and hospitals have lower rates of IR. Failed attempts at CR occur very infrequently., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated relatively high rates of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) classified as "inappropriate." The New York State Department of Health shared rates with hospitals and announced the intention of withholding reimbursement pending demonstration of clinical rationale for Medicaid patients with inappropriate PCIs., Objectives: The objective was to examine changes over time in the number and rate of inappropriate PCIs., Methods: Appropriate use criteria were applied to PCIs performed in New York in patients without acute coronary syndromes or previous coronary artery bypass graft surgery in periods before (2010 through 2011) and after (2012 through 2014) efforts were made to decrease inappropriateness rates. Changes in the number of appropriate PCIs were also assessed., Results: The percentage of inappropriate PCIs for all patients dropped from 18.2% in 2010 to 10.6% in 2014 (from 15.3% to 6.8% for Medicaid patients, and from 18.6% to 11.2% for other patients). The total number of PCIs in patients with no acute coronary syndrome/no prior coronary artery bypass graft surgery that were rated as inappropriate decreased from 2,956 patients in 2010 to 911 patients in 2014, a reduction of 69%. For Medicaid patients, the decrease was from 340 patients to 84 patients, a decrease of 75%. For a select set of higher-risk scenarios, there were higher numbers of appropriate PCIs per year in the period from 2012 to 2014., Conclusions: The inappropriateness rate for PCIs and the use of PCI for elective procedures in New York has decreased substantially between 2010 and 2014. This decrease has occurred for a large proportion of PCI hospitals., (Copyright © 2017 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The authors examined the impact of including shock patients in public reporting of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) risk-adjusted mortality., Background: There is concern that an unintended consequence of statewide public reporting of medical outcomes is the avoidance of appropriate interventions for high-risk patients., Methods: New York State's PCI registry was used to compare hospital and physician risk-adjusted mortality rates and outliers from New York's public report models with rates and outliers based on statistical models that include refractory shock patients and exclude both refractory shock and other shock patients., Results: Correlations between the public report model and each of the other 2 models were above 0.92 for hospital risk-adjusted rates and were 0.99 for all physician risk-adjusted rates (p < 0.0001). There were 11 physicians with lower than expected mortality rates (low outliers) and 41 physicians with higher than expected mortality rates (high outliers) across the 3 time periods in the public report, compared with 10 low outliers and 40 high outliers if all shock patients had been excluded. There was considerable overlap among outliers identified by the 3 models. Findings were similar for hospital outliers., Conclusions: Risk-adjusted hospital and physician mortality rates are highly correlated regardless of whether shock patients are included in public reporting. The numbers of outliers are similar, and outlier changes are minimal, although 10% to 15% of cardiologists who were outliers in either exclusion rule were not outliers in the other one. This information can form a basis for subsequent discussions regarding the exclusion of high-risk patients from public reporting., (Copyright © 2017 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hospitals' risk-standardized mortality rates and outlier status (significantly higher/lower rates) are reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients using Medicare claims data. New York now has AMI claims data with blood pressure and heart rate added., Objective: The objective of this study was to see whether the appended database yields different hospital assessments than standard claims data., Methods: New York State clinically appended claims data for AMI were used to create 2 different risk models based on CMS methods: 1 with and 1 without the added clinical data. Model discrimination was compared, and differences between the models in hospital outlier status and tertile status were examined., Results: Mean arterial pressure and heart rate were both significant predictors of mortality in the clinically appended model. The C statistic for the model with the clinical variables added was significantly higher (0.803 vs. 0.773, P<0.001). The model without clinical variables identified 10 low outliers and all of them were percutaneous coronary intervention hospitals. When clinical variables were included in the model, only 6 of those 10 hospitals were low outliers, but there were 2 new low outliers. The model without clinical variables had only 3 high outliers, and the model with clinical variables included identified 2 new high outliers., Conclusion: Appending even a small number of clinical data elements to administrative data resulted in a difference in the assessment of hospital mortality outliers for AMI. The strategy of adding limited but important clinical data elements to administrative datasets should be considered when evaluating hospital quality for procedures and other medical conditions.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusions (CTO) has been identified as a beneficial treatment, but there is limited information about its use in everyday practice., Methods and Results: Data from New York's PCI registry between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2012, were used to examine the utilization and variation in use of CTO PCI, the success rates across providers, the multivariable correlates of success, and the mortality of successful CTO PCI. A total of 4030 (3.1%) patients undergoing PCI underwent CTO PCI with a success rate of 61.3%. Patients with successful CTO PCIs were younger; had higher ejection fractions; were less likely to have had previous revascularization or carotid/cerebrovascular disease; and were more likely to have the CTO in the left anterior descending artery. Operators with annual CTO PCI volumes of at least 48 per year (the top volume quartile) had odds of achieving success that were more than twice as high as the half of all operators who performed <9 CTO PCIs per year. Patients with unsuccessful CTO PCIs had significantly higher 2.5-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.28-2.08) than patients who had complete revascularization (CR) for all CTOs and other diseased lesions., Conclusions: The success rate for CTO is low compared with the rate for other lesions. Successful revascularization of CTO is associated with improved survival compared with procedures with unsuccessful CTO, and higher-volume CTO operators are more successful., (© 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.)

The possibility of an association between inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure and cardiovascular outcomes has received increasing attention in the literature over the past decade. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is currently revising its Integrated Risk Assessment System (IRIS) review of iAs, and one of the non-cancer endpoints of interest is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Despite the increased interest in this area, substantial gaps remain in the available information, particularly regarding the mechanism of action (MOA) by which iAs could cause or exacerbate CVD. Few studies specifically address the plausibility of an association between iAs and CVD at the low exposure levels which are typical in the United States (i.e., below 100 μg As/L in drinking water). We have conducted a review and evaluation of the animal, mechanistic, and human data relevant to the potential MOAs of iAs and CVD. Specifically, we evaluated the most common proposed MOAs, which include disturbance of endothelial function and hepatic dysfunction. Our analysis of the available evidence indicates that there is not a well-established MOA for iAs in the development or progression of CVD. Few human studies of the potential MOAs have addressed plausibility at low doses and the applicability of extrapolation from animal studies to humans is questionable. However, the available evidence indicates that regardless of the specific MOA, the effects of iAs on physiological processes at the cellular level appear to operate via a threshold mechanism. This finding is consistent with the lack of association of CVD with iAs exposure in humans at levels below 100 μg/L, particularly when considering important exposure and risk modifiers such as nutrition and genetics. Based on this analysis, we conclude that there are no data supporting a linear dose-response relationship between iAs and CVD, indicating this relationship has a threshold., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently concluded that there is likely to be a causal relationship between short-term (< 30 days) ozone exposure and cardiovascular (CV) effects; however, biological mechanisms to link transient effects with chronic cardiovascular disease (CVD) have not been established. Some studies assessed changes in circulating levels of biomarkers associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, coagulation, vasoreactivity, lipidology, and glucose metabolism after ozone exposure to elucidate a biological mechanism. We conducted a weight-of-evidence (WoE) analysis to determine if there is evidence supporting an association between changes in these biomarkers and short-term ozone exposure that would indicate a biological mechanism for CVD below the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 75 parts per billion (ppb). Epidemiology findings were mixed for all biomarker categories, with only a few studies reporting statistically significant changes and with no consistency in the direction of the reported effects. Controlled human exposure studies of 2 to 5 hours conducted at ozone concentrations above 75 ppb reported small elevations in biomarkers for inflammation and oxidative stress that were of uncertain clinical relevance. Experimental animal studies reported more consistent results among certain biomarkers, although these were also conducted at ozone exposures well above 75 ppb and provided limited information on ozone exposure-response relationships. Overall, the current WoE does not provide a convincing case for a causal relationship between short-term ozone exposure below the NAAQS and adverse changes in levels of biomarkers within and across categories, but, because of study limitations, they cannot not provide definitive evidence of a lack of causation.

Background: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publicly reports risk-standardized mortality rates (RSMRs) to assess quality of care for hospitals that treat acute myocardial infarction patients, and the outcomes for inpatient transfers are attributed to transferring hospitals. However, emergency department (ED) transfers are currently ignored and therefore attributed to receiving hospitals., Methods: New York State administrative data were used to develop a statistical model similar to the one used by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to risk-adjust hospital 30-day mortality rates. RSMRs were calculated and outliers were identified when ED transfers were attributed to: (1) the transferring hospital and (2) the receiving hospital. Differences in hospital outlier status and RSMR tertile between the 2 attribution methods were noted for hospitals performing and not performing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs)., Results: Although both methods of attribution identified 3 high outlier non-PCI hospitals, only 2 of those hospitals were identified by both methods, and each method identified a different hospital as a third outlier. Also, when transfers were attributed to the referring hospital, 1 non-PCI hospital was identified as a low outlier, and no non-PCI hospitals were identified as a low outlier with the other attribution method. About one sixth of all hospitals changed their tertile status. Most PCI hospitals (89%) that changed status moved to a higher (worse RSMR) tertile, whereas the majority of non-PCI hospitals (68%) that changed status were moved to a lower (better) RSMR tertile when ED transfers were attributed to the referring hospital., Conclusions: Hospital quality assessments for acute myocardial infarction are affected by whether ED transfers are assigned to the transferring or receiving hospital. The pros and cons of this choice should be considered.

Background: Few recent studies have compared the outcomes of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) in patients with isolated (single vessel) proximal left anterior descending (PLAD) coronary artery disease in the era of drug-eluting stents (DES)., Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare outcomes in patients with PLAD who underwent CABG and PCI with DES., Methods: New York's Percutaneous Coronary Interventions Reporting System was used to identify and track all patients who underwent CABG surgery and received DES for isolated PLAD disease between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010, and who were followed-up through December 31, 2011. A total of 5,340 of 6,064 (88%) patients received DES. Patients were matched to vital statistics data to obtain mortality after discharge and matched to New York's administrative data to obtain readmissions for myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. To minimize selection bias, patients were propensity matched into 715 CABG and/or DES pairs, and 3 outcome measures were compared across the pairs., Results: Kaplan-Meier estimates for CABG and DES did not significantly differ for mortality or mortality, MI, and/or stroke, but repeat revascularization rates were lower for CABG (7.09% vs. 12.98%; p = 0.0007). After further adjustment with Cox proportional hazards models, there were still no significant differences in 3-year mortality rates (CABG and/or DES adjusted hazard ratio (AHR): 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70 to 1.85) or mortality, MI, and/or stroke rates (AHR: 1.15; 95% CI: 0.76 to 1.73), and the repeat revascularization rate remained significantly lower for CABG patients (AHR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.36 to 0.81)., Conclusions: Despite the higher rating in current guidelines of CABG (Class IIa vs. Class IIb) for patients with isolated PLAD disease, there were no differences in mortality or mortality, MI, and/or stroke, although CABG patients had significantly lower repeat revascularization rates., (Copyright © 2014 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We conducted a weight-of-evidence (WoE) analysis to assess whether the current body of research supports a causal relationship between long-term ozone exposure (defined by EPA as at least 30 days in duration) at ambient levels and cardiovascular (CV) effects. We used a novel WoE framework based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's National Ambient Air Quality Standards causal framework for this analysis. Specifically, we critically evaluated and integrated the relevant epidemiology and experimental animal data and classified a causal determination based on categories proposed by the Institute of Medicine's 2008 report, Improving the Presumptive Disability Decision-making Process for Veterans. We found that the risks of CV effects are largely null across human and experimental animal studies. The few positive associations reported in studies of CV morbidity and mortality are very small in magnitude, mainly reported in single-pollutant models, and likely attributable to bias, chance, or confounding. The few positive effects in experimental animal studies were observed mainly in ex vivo studies at high exposures, and even the in vivo findings are not likely relevant to humans. The available data also do not support a biologically plausible mechanism for the effects of ozone on the CV system. Overall, the current WoE provides no convincing case for a causal relationship between long-term exposure to ambient ozone and adverse effects on the CV system in humans, but the limitations of the available studies preclude definitive conclusions regarding a lack of causation; thus, we categorize the strength of evidence for a causal relationship between long-term exposure to ozone and CV effects as "below equipoise."

There is a relatively large body of research on the potential cardiovascular (CV) effects associated with short-term ozone exposure (defined by EPA as less than 30 days in duration). We conducted a weight-of-evidence (WoE) analysis to assess whether it supports a causal relationship using a novel WoE framework adapted from the US EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Standards causality framework. Specifically, we synthesized and critically evaluated the relevant epidemiology, controlled human exposure, and experimental animal data and made a causal determination using the same categories proposed by the Institute of Medicine report Improving the Presumptive Disability Decision-making Process for Veterans ( IOM 2008). We found that the totality of the data indicates that the results for CV effects are largely null across human and experimental animal studies. The few statistically significant associations reported in epidemiology studies of CV morbidity and mortality are very small in magnitude and likely attributable to confounding, bias, or chance. In experimental animal studies, the reported statistically significant effects at high exposures are not observed at lower exposures and thus not likely relevant to current ambient ozone exposures in humans. The available data also do not support a biologically plausible mechanism for CV effects of ozone. Overall, the current WoE provides no convincing case for a causal relationship between short-term exposure to ambient ozone and adverse effects on the CV system in humans, but the limitations of the available studies preclude definitive conclusions regarding a lack of causation. Thus, we categorize the strength of evidence for a causal relationship between short-term exposure to ozone and CV effects as "below equipoise."

Several randomized controlled trials and observational studies have compared outcomes of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) with drug-eluting stents (DESs) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), but they have not thoroughly investigated the relative difference in outcomes for patients aged ≥75 years. In this study, a total of 3,864 patients receiving DES and CABG (1,932 CABG-DES pairs) with multivessel coronary disease were propensity matched using multiple patient risk factors and were compared with respect to 3 outcomes (mortality, stroke/myocardial infarction [MI]/mortality, and repeat revascularization) at 2.5 years with a mean follow-up of 18 months. The mortality rates (DES/CABG hazard ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 0.87 to 1.30) and the stroke/MI/mortality rates (DES/CABG hazard ratio 1.15, 95% confidence interval 0.97 to 1.38) for the 2 procedures were not significantly different. Repeat revascularization rates were significantly higher for patients who received DESs. In conclusion, older patients experienced similar mortality and stroke/MI/mortality rates for CABG and PCI with DES, although repeat revascularization rates were higher for patients undergoing PCI with DES., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study sought to determine the utilization and outcomes for radial access for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) in common practice., Background: Radial access for PCI has been studied considerably, but mostly in clinical trials., Methods: All patients undergoing PCI for STEMI in 2009 to 2010 in New York were studied to determine the frequency and the patient-level predictors of radial access. Differences in in-hospital/30-day mortality between radial and femoral access were also studied., Results: Radial access increased from 4.9% in the first quarter of 2009 to 11.9% in the last quarter of 2010. Significant independent predictors were higher body surface area, non-Hispanic ethnicity, Caucasian race, stable hemodynamic state, ejection fraction <30% and ≥50% onset of STEMI from 12 to 23 h before the index procedure, and peripheral vascular disease. Mortality was not related to access site after adjustment for covariates (for radial vs. femoral access, adjusted odds ratio: 0.86, 95% confidence interval: 0.59 to 1.25), but the radial access site was trending toward lower mortality for the 9 hospitals that used it for more than 10% of their patients (adjusted odds ratio: 0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.36 to 1.02)., Conclusions: The use of a radial access site for PCI in STEMI patients increased between 2009 and 2010, but was still infrequent in 2010, and was used for lower-risk STEMI patients. There was no significant difference in mortality by access site, but there was a trend toward a mortality advantage for patients with a radial access site among hospitals that used it relatively frequently., (Copyright © 2014 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Appropriate use criteria for diagnostic catheterization (DC) were recently published. These criteria are yet to be examined for a large population of patients undergoing DC., Methods and Results: New York State's Cardiac Diagnostic Catheterization Database was used to identify patients undergoing DC for coronary artery disease between 2010 and 2011 for suspected coronary artery disease. Patients were rated by the appropriate use criteria as appropriate, uncertain, and inappropriate for DC. The relationships between various patient characteristics and the appropriateness ratings were examined, along with the relationships between hospital-level inappropriateness, for DC and 2 other hospital-level variables (hospital DC volume and percutaneous coronary intervention inappropriateness). Of the 8986 patients who could be rated for appropriateness, 35.3% were rated as appropriate, 39.8% as uncertain, and 24.9% as inappropriate. Of the 2240 patients rated as inappropriate, 56.7% were asymptomatic/had no previous stress test/had low or intermediate global coronary artery disease risk, 36.0% had a previous stress test with low-risk findings and no symptoms, and 7.3% were symptomatic/had no previous stress test/had low pretest probability. The median hospital-level inappropriateness rate was 28.5%, with a maximum of 48.8% and a minimum of 8.6%. Hospital-level inappropriateness was not related to hospital volume or inappropriateness for percutaneous coronary intervention., Conclusions: One quarter of patients undergoing DC for suspected coronary artery disease were rated as inappropriate for the procedure, approximately two thirds of these inappropriate patients had no previous stress test, and ≈90% of inappropriate patients with no previous stress test were asymptomatic with low or intermediate global risk scores.

Background: A simple risk score to predict long-term mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using preprocedural risk factors is currently not available. In this study, we created one by simplifying the results of a Cox proportional hazards model., Methods and Results: A total of 11,897 patients who underwent PCI from October through December 2003 in New York State were randomly divided into derivation and validation samples. Patients' vital statuses were tracked using the National Death Index through the end of 2008. A Cox proportional hazards model was fit to predict death after PCI using the derivation sample, and a simplified risk score was created. The Cox model identified 12 separate risk factors for mortality including older age, extreme body mass indexes, multivessel disease, a lower ejection fraction, unstable hemodynamic state or shock, several comorbidities (cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and renal failure), and a history of coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The C statistics of this model when applied to the validation sample were 0.787, 0.785, and 0.773 for risks of death within 1, 3, and 5 years after PCI, respectively. In addition, the point-based risk score demonstrated good agreement between patients' observed and predicted risks of death., Conclusions: A simple risk score created from a more complicated Cox proportional hazards model can be used to accurately predict a patient's risk of long-term mortality after PCI.

Background: Appropriate use criteria (AUC) for diagnostic catheterization (DC) developed by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and other professional societies were recently published. These criteria have yet to be examined thoroughly using existing DC databases., Methods and Results: New York State's Cardiac Diagnostic Catheterization Database was used to identify patients undergoing DC "for suspected coronary artery disease (CAD)" in 01/2010-06/2011 who underwent noninvasive stress testing. Patients rated for appropriateness using symptoms and stress test results were examined to determine the percentage with obstructive CAD and to explore the benefit of adding Global Risk Score (GRS) to the AUC. Of the 4432 patients who could be rated, 1530 (34.5%) had obstructive CAD, which varied from 22% for patients rated inappropriate to 47% for patients rated appropriate. Of all patients with low risk stress test results/no symptoms, all of whom were rated "inappropriate" for DC, only 8% of those patients with low GRS had obstructive CAD, whereas 44% of the patients with high GRS had obstructive CAD., Conclusions: Global Risk Score improved the ability of symptoms and stress test results to identify obstructive CAD in patients with "suspected CAD" with prior stress tests, and it might be helpful to add GRS to the DC AUC for those patients. These findings should be regarded as hypothesis generating unless/until they can be confirmed by other data bases., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine whether disparities in access to invasive cardiac procedures still exist for Medicaid patients, given how old earlier studies are and given changes in the interim in appropriateness guidelines., Patients and Methods: A total of 5,022 Medicaid and private insurance patients in New York from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009 under age 65 with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were compared with regard to their access to percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) before and after controlling for numerous patient characteristics and other important factors., Results: Medicaid patients were significantly less likely to be admitted initially to a hospital certified to perform PCI (90.4% vs. 94.3%, P < 0.001). Also, Medicaid patients were found to be significantly less likely to undergo PCI than other patients (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.81, 95% CI 0.66, 0.98, P = 0.03). When the probability of each hospital performing PCI for STEMI patients was controlled for, Medicaid patients were still less likely to undergo PCI after controlling for other risk factors (AOR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.65, 0.99, P = 0.04)., Conclusions: Medicaid STEMI patients are significantly less likely to undergo PCI within the same day of admission as private pay patients even after adjusting for patient characteristics related to receiving PCI, and the strength of this relationship is not diminished when controlling for whether the admitting hospital has approval to perform PCI or controlling for the tendency of the admitting hospital to treat STEMI with PCI., (© 2013, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The association between incomplete revascularization (IR) and long-term mortality after stenting in the era of drug-eluting stents is not well understood. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that IR is associated with a greater risk of long-term (5-year) mortality after stenting for multivessel coronary disease. Using data from the Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Reporting System of New York State, 21,767 patients with multivessel disease who underwent stenting during October 2003 to December 2005 were identified. Complete revascularization (CR) was achieved in 6,844 patients (31.4%), and 14,923 patients (68.6%) were incompletely revascularized. The CR and IR patients were propensity matched on a 1:1 ratio on the number of diseased vessels, the presence of total occlusion, type of stents, and the probability of achieving CR estimated using a logistic model with established risk factors as independent variables. Patients were followed for vital status until December 31, 2008 using the National Death Index. Differences in survival between the matched CR and IR patients were compared. Among the 6,511 pairs of propensity-matched patients, the 5-year survival rate for IR was lower compared with CR (79.3% vs 81.4%, p = 0.004), and the risk of death during follow-up was 16% greater for IR compared with CR (hazard ratio 1.16, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.27, p = 0.001). In addition, subgroup analyses demonstrated that the association between IR and long-term mortality was not dependent on major patient risk factors. In conclusion, IR is associated with an increased risk of long-term mortality after stenting for multivessel disease in the era of drug-eluting stents., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To compare 2-year outcomes (mortality, mortality/myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel PCI (TVPCI), and target lesion PCI (TLPCI)) for patients receiving EES and ZES., Background: The utilization of drug-eluting coronary stents (DES) among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) has increased dramatically in the last decade. Everolimus-eluting stents (EES) and ENDEAVOR zotarolimus eluting stents (ZES) constitute the latest generation of approved DES in the United States, but little is known about their relative effectiveness., Methods: New York patients undergoing EES and ZES revascularization without any other type of stent between 7/08 and 12/08 were propensity matched at the hospital level using multiple patient, operator, and hospital characteristics, and matched patients were followed through the end of 2010 to obtain comparative 2-year outcomes., Results: A total of 3286 patients were propensity-matched. Patients receiving EES had a significantly lower TVPCI rate (9.0% vs. 11.9%, AHR = 1.31, 95% CI (1.04, 1.65)) and a significantly lower TLPCI rate (6.0% vs. 8.3%, AHR = 1.35, 95% CI (1.02, 1.79)). There was no significant difference between EES and ZES for mortality or MI/mortality., Conclusions: There were no significant differences in the hard endpoints of death or MI between patients who received EES versus those who received ZES (ENDEAVOR). Patients with EES experienced lower repeat revascularization rates than patients with ZES at 24 months., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: There are evidence-based guidelines for staging of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but we are not aware of any evidence comparing the strategy of complete revascularization (CR) with PCI in the index admission versus the strategy of staging in a subsequent admission for patients with coronary artery disease without STEMI., Methods and Results: PCI patients without STEMI undergoing PCI in New York between 2007 and 2009 were separated into 2 groups: those with acute coronary syndrome but no STEMI, and those without acute coronary syndrome. For each group, patients who underwent CR in the index admission were then propensity matched to patients staged within 60 days to obtain CR based on 17 patient risk factors related to longer-term mortality, and 3-year mortality rates were compared for the propensity-matched groups. Outcomes were also compared for preselected subgroups. For propensity-matched patients without acute coronary syndrome, the all-cause mortality rates at 3 years for patients who underwent CR in the index hospitalization and patients staged for CR within 60 days of discharge were 5.62% and 5.97%, P=0.93, respectively. For propensity-matched patients with acute coronary syndrome but without STEMI, the all-cause mortality rates at 3 years for patients who underwent CR in the index hospitalization and patients staged for CR within 60 days of discharge were 6.59% and 5.92%, P=0.41, respectively., Conclusions: Patients with coronary artery disease without STEMI do not have significantly lower 3-year mortality rates with staged PCI than when they undergo CR in the index admission.

Objectives: This study sought to report percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) 30-day readmission rates, identify the impact of staged (planned) readmissions on overall readmission rates, determine the significant predictors of unstaged readmissions after PCI, and specify the reasons for readmissions., Background: Hospital readmissions occur frequently and incur substantial costs. PCI are among the most common and costly procedures, and little is known about the nature and extent of readmissions for PCI., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 30-day readmissions after PCI using the nation's largest statewide PCI registry to identify 40,093 New York State patients who underwent PCI between January 1, 2007, and November 30, 2007. Demographic variables, pre-procedural risk factors, complications of PCI, and length of stay were considered as potential predictors of readmission, and reasons for readmission were identified from New York's administrative database using principal diagnoses., Results: A total of 15.6% of all PCI patients were readmitted within 30 days, and 20.6% of these readmissions were staged. Among unstaged readmissions, the most common reasons for readmission were chronic ischemic heart disease (22.5%), chest pain (10.8%), and heart failure (8.2%). A total of 2,015 patients (32.2% of readmissions) underwent a repeat PCI. Thirteen demographic and diagnostic risk factors, as well as longer lengths of stay, were all associated with higher readmission rates., Conclusions: Future efforts to reduce readmissions should be directed toward the recognition of patients most at risk, and the reasons they are readmitted. Staging also should be examined from a cost-effectiveness standpoint as a function of patients' unique risk factors., (Copyright © 2011 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The impact of incomplete revascularization (IR) on adverse outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention remains inconclusive, and few studies have examined mortality during follow-ups longer than 5 years. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that IR is associated with higher risk of long-term (8-year) mortality after stenting for multivessel coronary disease., Methods and Results: A total of 13 016 patients with multivessel disease who had undergone stenting procedures with bare metal stents in 1999 to 2000 were identified in the New York State's Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Reporting System. A logistic regression model was fit to predict the probability of achieving complete revascularization (CR) in these patients using baseline risk factors; then, the CR patients were matched to the IR patients with similar likelihoods of achieving CR. Each patient's vital status was followed through 2007 using the National Death Index, and the difference in long-term mortality between IR and CR was compared. It was found that CR was achieved in 29.2% (3803) of the patients. For the 3803 pair-matched patients, the respective 8-year survival rates were 80.8% and 78.5% for CR and IR (P=0.04), respectively. The risk of death was marginally significantly higher for IR (hazard ratio=1.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.26, P=0.04). The 95% bootstrap confidence interval for the hazard ratio was 0.98 to 1.32., Conclusions: IR may be associated with higher risk of long-term mortality after stenting with BMS in patients with multivessel disease. More prospective studies are needed to further test this association.

The outcomes for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DESs) and bare metal stents (BMSs) have been compared in many studies for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. However, little is known about the relative outcomes for patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). The aim of the present study was to compare the NSTEMI outcomes for PCI with DESs and BMSs. New York's PCI registry was used to propensity-match 4,776 pairs of patients with NSTEMI who had received DESs and BMSs from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2007. These patients were followed up through December 31, 2008 to test for differences in mortality, target vessel revascularization, and total repeat revascularization. The outcomes were also compared for various patient subsets. At a median follow-up period of 3.68 years, the patients receiving DESs had significantly lower mortality (16.58% vs 14.52%, difference 2.06%, p<0.001), target vessel revascularization (13.08% vs 11.04%, p=0.009), and total repeat revascularization (22.16% vs 18.77%, p<0.001). The patients receiving paclitaxel-eluting and sirolimus-eluting stents both experienced superior outcomes compared to patients receiving BMSs. The patients receiving DESs had significantly lower mortality rates than their propensity-matched counterparts receiving BMSs when they were ≥65 years (difference 2.29%, p=0.01) and male (difference 2.77%, p=0.003). In conclusion, patients with NSTEMI undergoing PCI experienced lower 4-year mortality, target vessel revascularization, and repeat revascularization rates when they had received DESs than when they had received BMSs, and patients who were >65 years old, and men received notable benefits., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is important to identify the factors related to survival of patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction. Our objective was to determine the interactive effect of the door-to-balloon (DTB) time and onset-to-door (OTD) time on longer term mortality for patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction. The present study was a retrospective cohort analysis of the effect of the DTB time and OTD time on longer term (median follow-up 413 days) mortality for patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention in New York from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2006, adjusting for the effect of other important risk factors. The patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction with a DTB time of <90 minutes and OTD time of <4 hours had the lowest longer term mortality (3.51%). Patients with a DTB time <90 minutes and OTD time of >or =4 hours had significantly greater mortality than patients with an OTD time of <4 hours and DTB time of <90 minutes (adjusted hazard ratio 1.54, 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 2.30), as did patients with a DTB time of > or =90 minutes and OTD time of > or =4 hours (adjusted hazard ratio 1.48, 95% confidence interval 1.05 to 2.09). For an OTD time of <4 hours and DTB time of > or =90 minutes, mortality showed a trend toward being greater compared to shorter OTD and DTB times (adjusted hazard ratio 1.29, 95% confidence interval 0.95 to 1.77). In conclusion, the combination of short (<90 minutes) DTB time and short (<4 hours) OTD time was associated with the lowest longer term mortality rate., (Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in in-hospital and longer-term mortality for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients with multivessel disease as a function of whether they underwent single-vessel (culprit vessel) percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) or multivessel PCI., Background: The optimal treatment of patients with STEMI and multivessel disease is of continuing interest in the era of drug-eluting stents., Methods: STEMI patients with multivessel disease undergoing PCIs in New York between January 1, 2003, and June 30, 2006, were subdivided into those who underwent culprit vessel PCI and those who underwent multivessel PCI during the index procedure, during the index admission, or staged within 60 days of the index admission. Patients were propensity-matched and mortality rates were calculated at 12, 24, and 42 months., Results: A total of 3,521 patients (87.5%) underwent culprit vessel PCI during the index procedure. A total of 259 of them underwent staged PCI during the index admission and 538 patients underwent staged PCI within 60 days of the index procedure. For patients without hemodynamic compromise, culprit vessel PCI during the index procedure was associated with lower in-hospital mortality than multivessel PCI during the index procedure (0.9% vs. 2.4%, p = 0.04). Patients undergoing staged multivessel PCI within 60 days after the index procedure had a significantly lower 12-month mortality rate than patients undergoing culprit vessel PCI only (1.3% vs. 3.3%, p = 0.04)., Conclusions: Our findings support the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) recommendation that culprit vessel PCI be used for STEMI patients with multivessel disease at the time of the index PCI when patients are not hemodynamically compromised. However, staged PCI within 60 days after the index procedure, including during the index admission, is associated with risk-adjusted mortality rates that are comparable with the rate for culprit vessel PCI alone., (Copyright (c) 2010 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: We sought to study the rate related effects of sotalol on myocardial contractility and to test the hypothesis that the class III antiarrhythmic effect of sotalol has a reverse use-dependent positive inotropic effect in the intact heart., Background: Antiarrhythmic drugs exert significant negative inotropic effects. Sotalol, a beta-adrenergic blocking agent with class III antiarrhythmic properties, may augment contractility by virtue of its ability to prolong the action potential duration (APD)., Methods: In 10 anesthetized dogs, measurements of left ventricle (LV) peak (+)dP/dt and simultaneous endocardial action potentials were made during baseline conditions and after sequential administration of esmolol and sotalol. In addition, electrical and mechanical restitution curves were constructed at a basic pacing cycle length of 600 ms by introducing a test pulse of altered cycle length ranging from 200 ms to 2,000 ms., Results: In the steady state pacing experiments, sotalol prolonged the APD in a reverse use-dependent manner; such an effect was not seen with esmolol. At cycle lengths exceeding 400 ms, LV (+)dP/dt was significantly higher with sotalol than it was with esmolol. There was a direct relation between APD and LV (+)dP/dt with sotalol (r = 0.46, p < 0.001), but there was no significant relation between APD and LV (+)dP/dt with esmolol (r = 0.27, p = NS). Results in the single beat (restitution) studies were qualitatively similar to the steady state results; APD (at cycle length >400 ms) and LV (+)dP/dt (at cycle length >600 ms) were significantly higher with sotalol than they were with esmolol., Conclusions: The reverse use-dependent prolongation of APD by sotalol is associated with a positive inotropic effect.

This investigation was performed to evaluate the feasibility of detecting repolarization alternans with the heart rate elevated with a bicycle exercise protocol. Sensitive spectral signal-processing techniques are able to detect beat-to-beat alternation of the amplitude of the T wave, which is not visible on standard electrocardiogram. Previous animal and human investigations using atrial or ventricular pacing have demonstrated that T-wave alternans is a marker of vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias. Using a spectral analysis technique incorporating noise reduction signal-processing software, we evaluated electrical alternans at rest and with the heart rate elevated during a bicycle exercise protocol. In this study we defined optimal criteria for electrical alternans to separate patients from those without inducible arrhythmias. Alternans and signal-averaged electrocardiographic results were compared with the results of vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias as defined by induction of sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation at electrophysiologic evaluation. In 27 patients alternans recorded at rest and with exercise had a sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 75%, and overall clinical accuracy of 80% (p <0.003). In this patient population the signal-averaged electrocardiogram was not a significant predictor of arrhythmia vulnerability. This is the first study to report that repolarization alternans can be detected with heart rate elevated with a bicycle exercise protocol. Alternans measured using this technique is an accurate predictor of arrhythmia inducibility.

The Accufix atrial lead has a "J"-shaped retention wire at the distal end that has been reported to fracture. Our findings suggest that the more deformed the J, the higher the incidence of fracture.

Objective: To study the potential interactions in patients with endocardial permanent pacemakers and non-thoracotomy implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) systems., Design: Case series and cohort study., Setting: Tertiary referral centre., Patients: Fifteen consecutive patients with both endocardial pacemakers (12 dual chamber and three single chamber) and non-thoracotomy ICD systems., Main Outcome Measures: Detection inhibition of induced ventricular fibrillation; double counting; and pacemaker function after shocks. In the evaluation of detection inhibition, 124 VF inductions were analysed for detection duration compared with induced VF episodes in controls with an ICD but without a pacemaker., Results: Two patients (13%) showed detection inhibition of VF and required pacemaker system change at the time of the ICD implant. With the final lead position, despite frequent pacemaker undersensing of VF, ICD detection of VF was not inhibited during any induction, and neither initial detection nor redetection times for VF were different from controls. Double/triple counting of pacemaker artefact and evoked electrogram was noted in three patients (20%). In two, this was remedied during the implantation procedure, and in the other it was abolished when amiodarone treatment was discontinued. Pacemaker function was affected by ICD discharges in two patients, one who showed postshock atrial undersensing and loss of capture, and another whose pacemaker reverted to VVI mode., Conclusions: When careful testing is performed at implantation to detect and remedy device interactions, non-thoracotomy ICD treatment and endocardial pacemakers can be used safely in combination.