Sex Differences in Left Ventricular Assist Device-related Emergency Department Encounters in the United States.

2022

1445-1455

05/2022

1532-8414

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.

10.1016/j.cardfail.2022.05.005

J Card Fail

35644307

Novel Risk Model to Predict Emergency Department Associated Mortality for Patients Supported With a Ventricular Assist Device: The Emergency Department-Ventricular Assist Device Risk Score.

2022

e020942

2022 Jan 13

2047-9980

<p><strong>Background</strong> The past decade has seen tremendous growth in patients with ambulatory ventricular assist devices. We sought to identify patients that present to the emergency department (ED) at the highest risk of death. <strong>Methods and Results</strong> This retrospective analysis of ED encounters from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample includes 2010 to 2017. Using a random sampling of patient encounters, 80% were assigned to development and 20% to validation cohorts. A risk model was derived from independent predictors of mortality. Each patient encounter was assigned to 1 of 3 groups based on risk score. A total of 44&nbsp;042 ED ventricular assist device patient encounters were included. The majority of patients were male (73.6%), &lt;65&nbsp;years old (60.1%), and 29% presented with bleeding, stroke, or device complication. Independent predictors of mortality during the ED visit or subsequent admission included age ≥65&nbsp;years (odds ratio [OR], 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3-4.6), primary diagnoses (stroke [OR, 19.4; 95% CI, 13.1-28.8], device complication [OR, 10.1; 95% CI, 6.5-16.7], cardiac [OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 2.7-6.1], infection [OR, 5.8; 95% CI, 3.5-8.9]), and blood transfusion (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.8-4.0), whereas history of hypertension was protective (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.5-0.9). The risk score predicted mortality areas under the curve of 0.78 and 0.71 for development and validation. Encounters in the highest risk score strata had a 16-fold higher mortality compared with the lowest risk group (15.8% versus 1.0%). <strong>Conclusions</strong> We present a novel risk score and its validation for predicting mortality of patients with ED ventricular assist devices, a high-risk, and growing, population.</p>

10.1161/JAHA.121.020942

J Am Heart Assoc

35023355

Impact of Age on Emergency Resource Utilization and Outcomes in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients Supported with a Ventricular Assist Device.

2021

2021 Nov 03

1538-943X

<p>There are minimal data describing outcomes in ambulatory pediatric and young adult ventricular assist device (VAD)-supported patient populations. We performed a retrospective analysis of encounter-level data from 2006 to 2017 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) to compare emergency department (ED) resource utilization and outcomes for pediatric (≤18 years, n = 494) to young adult (19-29 years, n = 2,074) VAD-supported patient encounters. Pediatric encounters were more likely to have a history of congenital heart disease (11.3% vs. 4.8%). However, Pediatric encounters had lower admission/transfer rates (37.8% vs. 57.8%) and median charges ($3,334 (IQR $1,473-$19,818) vs. $13,673 ($3,331-$45,884)) (all p &lt; 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression modeling revealed that age itself was not a predictor of admission, instead high acuity primary diagnoses and medical complexity were: (adjusted odds ratio; 95% confidence intervals): cardiac (3.0; 1.6-5.4), infection (3.4; 1.7-6.5), bleeding (3.9; 1.7-8.8), device complication (7.2; 2.7-18.9), and ≥1 chronic comorbidity (4.1; 2.5-6.7). In this largest study to date describing ED resource use and outcomes for pediatric and young adult VAD-supported patients, we found that, rather than age, high acuity presentations and comorbidities were primary drivers of clinical outcomes. Thus, reducing morbidity in this population should target comorbidities and early recognition of VAD-related complications.</p>

10.1097/MAT.0000000000001603

ASAIO J

34743138

Mental Health Disorders and Emergency Resource Use and Outcomes in Ventricular Assist Device Supported Patients.

2021

2021 Jun 02

1097-6744

<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>

10.1016/j.ahj.2021.05.018

Am Heart J

34089695

An Increasing Burden of Disease: Emergency Department Visits Among Patients With Ventricular Assist Devices From 2010 to 2017.

2021

e018035

2021 Feb 05

2047-9980

<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, &gt;880&nbsp;million ED visits were evaluated, with 44&nbsp;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&nbsp;155). VAD-related ED visits frequently resulted in admission (72%) and/or death (3.0%). Median inflation-adjusted charges were $25&nbsp;679 (interquartile range, $7450, $63&nbsp;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 &lt;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>

10.1161/JAHA.120.018035

J Am Heart Assoc

33543642