BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data regarding sex differences in the profiles and outcomes of ambulatory patients on left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support who present to the emergency department (ED).
METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 57,200 LVAD-related ED patient encounters from the 2010 to 2018 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. International Classification of Diseases Clinical Modification, Ninth Revision and Tenth Revision, codes identified patients aged 18 years or older with LVADs and associated primary and comorbidity diagnoses. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were stratified by sex and compared. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate predictors of hospital admission and death. Female patient encounters comprised 27.2% of ED visits and occurred at younger ages and more frequently with obesity and depression (all P < .01). There were no sex differences in presentation for device complication, stroke, infection, or heart failure (all P > .05); however, female patient encounters were more often respiratory- and genitourinary or gynecological related (both P < .01). After adjustment for age group, diabetes, depression, and hypertension, male patient encounters had a 38% increased odds of hospital admission (95% confidence interval 1.20-1.58), but there was no sex difference in the adjusted odds of death (odds ratio 1.11, 95% confidence interval 0.86-1.45).
CONCLUSIONS: Patient encounters of females on LVAD support have significantly different comorbidities and outcomes compared with males. Further inquiry into these sex differences is imperative to improve long-term outcomes.
<p>Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is often caused by pathogenic variants in sarcomeric genes and characterized by left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis and increased risk of heart failure and arrhythmias. There are no existing therapies to modify disease progression. In this study, we conducted a multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of the angiotensin II receptor blocker valsartan in attenuating disease evolution in early HCM. In total, 178 participants with early-stage sarcomeric HCM were randomized (1:1) to receive valsartan (320 mg daily in adults; 80-160 mg daily in children) or placebo for 2 years ( NCT01912534 ). Standardized changes from baseline to year 2 in LV wall thickness, mass and volumes; left atrial volume; tissue Doppler diastolic and systolic velocities; and serum levels of high-sensitivity troponin T and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic protein were integrated into a single composite z-score as the primary outcome. Valsartan (n = 88) improved cardiac structure and function compared to placebo (n = 90), as reflected by an increase in the composite z-score (between-group difference +0.231, 95% confidence interval (+0.098, +0.364); P = 0.001), which met the primary endpoint of the study. Treatment was well-tolerated. These results indicate a key opportunity to attenuate disease progression in early-stage sarcomeric HCM with an accessible and safe medication.</p>
<p>There are limited data describing the prevalence of mental health disorders (MHDOs) in patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs), or associations between MHDOs and resource use or outcomes. We used the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample administrative database to analyze 44,041 ED encounters for VAD-supported adults from 2010 to 2017, to assess the relationship between MHDOs and outcomes in this population. MHDO diagnoses were present for 23% of encounters, and were associated with higher charges and rates of admission, but lower mortality.</p>
<p>Background With a growing population of patients supported by ventricular assist devices (VADs) and the improvement in survival of this patient population, understanding the healthcare system burden is critical to improving outcomes. Thus, we sought to examine national estimates of VAD-related emergency department (ED) visits and characterize their demographic, clinical, and outcomes profile. Additionally, we tested the hypotheses that resource use increased and mortality improved over time. Methods and Results This retrospective database analysis uses encounter-level data from the 2010 to 2017 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. The primary outcome was mortality. From 2010 to 2017, >880 million ED visits were evaluated, with 44 042 VAD-related ED visits identified. The annual mean visits were 5505 (SD 4258), but increased 16-fold from 2010 to 2017 (824 versus 13 155). VAD-related ED visits frequently resulted in admission (72%) and/or death (3.0%). Median inflation-adjusted charges were $25 679 (interquartile range, $7450, $63 119) per encounter. The most common primary diagnoses were cardiac (22%), and almost 30% of encounters were because of bleeding, stroke, or device complications. From 2010 to 2017, admission and mortality decreased from 82% to 71% and 3.4% to 2.4%, respectively ( for trends <0.001, both). Conclusions We present the first study using national-level data to characterize the growing ED resource use and financial burden of patients supported by VAD. During the past decade, admission and mortality rates decreased but remain substantial; in 2017 ≈1 in every 40 VAD ED encounters resulted in death, making it critical that clinical decision-making be optimized for patients with VAD to maximize good outcomes.</p>
<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>The VANISH trial (Valsartan for Attenuating Disease Evolution in Early Sarcomeric Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) targeted young sarcomeric gene mutation carriers with early-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) to test whether valsartan can modify disease progression. We describe the baseline characteristics of the VANISH cohort and compare to previous trials evaluating angiotensin receptor blockers.</p>
<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Applying a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled design, 178 participants with nonobstructive HCM (age, 23.3±10.1 years; 61% men) were randomized in the primary cohort and 34 (age, 16.5±4.9 years; 50% men) in the exploratory cohort of sarcomeric mutation carriers without left ventricular hypertrophy.</p>
<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>In the primary cohort, maximal left ventricular wall thickness was 17±4 mm for adults and score 7.0±4.5 for children. Nineteen percent had late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance. Mean peak oxygen consumption was 33 mL/kg per minute, and 92% of participants were New York Heart Association functional class I. New York Heart Association class II was associated with older age, variants, and more prominent imaging abnormalities. Six previous trials of angiotensin receptor blockers in HCM enrolled a median of 24 patients (range, 19-133) with mean age of 51.2 years; 42% of patients were in New York Heart Association class ≥II, and sarcomeric mutations were not required.</p>
<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>The VANISH cohort is much larger, younger, less heterogeneous, and has less advanced disease than prior angiotensin receptor blocker trials in HCM. Participants had relatively normal functional capacity and mild HCM features. New York Heart Association functional class II symptoms were associated with older age, more prominent imaging abnormalities, and variants, suggesting both phenotype and genotype contribute to disease manifestations.</p>
<p><strong>CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: </strong>URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01912534.</p>
<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Cancer therapy-induced cardiomyopathy (CCM) is associated with cumulative drug exposures and pre-existing cardiovascular disorders. These parameters incompletely account for substantial inter-individual susceptibility to CCM. We hypothesized that rare variants in cardiomyopathy genes contribute to CCM.</p>
<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We studied 213 CCM patients from three cohorts: retrospectively recruited adults with diverse cancers (n=99), prospectively phenotyped breast cancer adults (n=73) and prospectively phenotyped children with acute myeloid leukemia (n=41). Cardiomyopathy genes, including nine pre-specified genes were sequenced. The prevalence of rare variants was compared between CCM cohorts and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) participants (n=2053), healthy volunteers (n=445), and ancestry-matched reference population. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were assessed, stratified by genotypes. A prevalent CCM genotype was modeled in anthracycline-treated mice.</p>
<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>CCM was diagnosed 0.4-9 years after chemotherapy; 90% of these patients received anthracyclines. Adult CCM patients had cardiovascular risk factors similar to the U.S.</p>
<p><strong>POPULATION: </strong>Among nine prioritized genes CCM patients had more rare protein-altering variants than comparative cohorts (p≤1.98e-04). Titin-truncating variants (TTNtv) predominated, occurring in 7.5% CCM patients versus 1.1% TCGA participants (p=7.36e-08), 0.7% healthy volunteers (p=3.42e-06), and 0.6% reference population (p=5.87e-14). Adult CCM patients with TTNtv experienced more heart failure and atrial fibrillation (p=0.003) and impaired myocardial recovery (p=0.03) than those without. Consistent with human data, anthracycline-treated TTNtv mice and isolated TTNtv cardiomyocytes showed sustained contractile dysfunction unlike wildtype (p=0.0004 and p<0.002, respectively).</p>
<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Unrecognized rare variants in cardiomyopathy-associated genes, particularly TTNtv, increased the risk for CCM in children and adults, and adverse cardiac events in adults. Genotype, along with cumulative chemotherapy dosage and traditional cardiovascular risk factors improves identification of cancer patients at highest risk for CCM.</p>
<p><strong>CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: </strong>URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifiers: NCT01173341; AAML1031; NCT01371981.</p>
<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Heart retransplant (HRT) recipients represent a growing number of transplant patients. The impact of concurrent kidney transplants (KTs) in this population has not been well studied. We tested the hypothesis that recipients of HRT with concurrent KT (HRT-KT) would have worse survival than recipients of HRT alone.</p>
<p><strong>METHODS AND RESULTS: </strong>A retrospective analysis of the United Network of Organ Sharing database was performed for all patients undergoing HRT from 1987 to 2011. There were 1660 HRT patients, of which 116 (7%) received concurrent KT. Those who received HRT-KT had older age, longer wait-list time, worse kidney function, and more known diabetes. Survival among recipients of HRT-KT was significantly better than that of recipients of HRT alone (P=0.005). A subgroup of 323 HRT patients with severe kidney dysfunction (estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min per 1.73 m(2) or on dialysis) was studied in more detail, and 76 (24%) received concurrent KT. Those on dialysis at the time of HRT had better survival with versus without concurrent KT (P<0.0001). On multivariable analysis, concurrent KT was independently associated with better outcomes for all patients with HRT and for the subgroup of patients with severe kidney dysfunction.</p>
<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Recipients of HRT-KT have better survival than recipients of HRT alone. Further research is needed to determine which HRT patients may benefit the most from concurrent KT.</p>