Kiley, Sean

Background: Impella 5.5® with Smart Assist is a minimally invasive Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD) approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating ongoing cardiogenic shock for up to 14 days. The Impella® intends to reduce ventricular workload and provide the circulatory support necessary for myocardial recovery. Research Question: Compared to standard practice, does adding an extension piece to the purge tube side arm of the Impella® Device decrease the incidence of device failure and positively impact the health outcome of adult patients receiving Impella® support? Study Design and Methods: A retrospective chart review of ICU patients was done at a tertiary care center from August 2018 to August 2022 to assess the differences in patient outcomes related to Impella® Device utilization before and after the implementation of the extension piece to the purge tube sidearm. Among patients reviewed, a total of 20 were included in our review, with seven not having the purge tube side arm extension added, while 13 patients had the extension. Results: The two study groups had no significant difference in patient health outcomes. Additionally, there were no instances of device failure requiring explanation without the extension tubing. However, there were no cases of the purge cassette cracking with the addition of the extension tubing. Conclusion: The addition of extension tubing to the purge cassette of the Impella® Device did not impact patient health outcomes or the incidence of device failure. There was a complete reduction in the incidence of the purge cassette cracking, which could reduce the potential for infection or device failure over a long period of mechanical support. There is a need for long-term prospective studies to confirm the results.

Abstract Background Early diagnosis, prognostication, and treatment initiation are the cornerstones of sepsis management. There remains an immense interest in exploring the diagnostic and prognostic roles of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the sepsis population. Methods We performed a retrospective multi-center observational study including patients admitted to different Mayo Clinic sites with a diagnosis of sepsis between October 2018 and August 2022. Patients were excluded if they were aged < 18 years, lacked research authorization, or had missing Neutrophil or Lymphocyte count at admission. Data were collected from an existing sepsis database and Mayo Data Explorer (MDE). Categorical variables were summarized as percentages and continuous variables were summarized as medians. Chi-square test for significance, independent sample t-test, and multivariate Cox Proportional Hazard models were performed on IBM SPSS Statistics v28.0. Results Our study cohort consisted of 13968 patients, of which the majority were males (55.9%), Caucasian (91.6%), and non-Hispanic or Latino (94.3%). The median age of the cohort was 71 (60, 80) years, and the median BMI was 27.7 (23.4, 33.3) kg/m2. Among all sepsis patients, 6.0% had a positive blood culture and the most common organisms were E. coli (26.5%), Klebsiella sp. (15.6%), Streptococcus sp. (12.8%) and Staphylococcus aureus (9.9%). 13131 patients (94.1%) survived the hospital stay and 837 (5.9%) did not. There was no difference in mortality based on blood culture positivity status (6.0% vs 6.6%, p=0.41). However, the median NLR was higher among patients with a positive blood culture (16.4 vs. 12.1, p< 0.001) and among non-survivors (14.3 vs 12.2, p< 0.001). NLR did not significantly vary based on the type of organism growing in the blood culture. A multivariate model revealed NLR as an independent predictor of mortality (HR 1.003, 95% CI: 1.000-1.006, p=0.029) after adjusting for comorbidities, baseline clinical and laboratory variables. (Tables 1 & 2) Conclusion Our retrospective multicentric study showed that the Neutrophil-Lymphocyte ratio at admission was higher among bacteremic sepsis patients and non-survivors. Further prospective studies are needed to explore its diagnostic and prognostic utility. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Abstract Background Impella is an advanced ventricular assist device frequently used as a bridge to heart transplantation. The association of Impella with increased rates of gout flares has not been studied. Our primary aim is to determine the rates of gout flares in patients on Impella support. Methodology A retrospective study was conducted between January 2017 and September 2022 involving all patients who underwent heart transplantation. The cohort was divided into groups based on Impella support for statistical analysis. In patients receiving Impella support, outcome measures were compared based on the development of gout flares. Results 213 patients were analyzed, with 19.71% supported by Impella. Impella and non-Impella groups had similar age, race, and BMI, but more males were in the Impella group. Gout and chronic kidney disease were more prevalent in Impella-supported patients, while coronary artery disease was less common. The incidence of gout flare was significantly higher in Impella patients (31% vs. 5.3%). The Impella group had an adjusted odds ratio for in-hospital gout flare of 8.069 (95% CI = 2.13–35.08, P = 0.003). Impella-supported patients with gout flares had longer intensive care unit and hospital stays but no difference in mortality or other outcomes. Conclusion Our study is the first to identify the potential association between Impella support and increased rates of gout flares in hospitalized patients. Future studies are required to confirm this association and further elucidate the biological pathways. It is imperative to consider introducing appropriate measures to prevent and promptly manage gout flares in Impella-supported patients.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the 30-day postoperative mortality and palliative care consultations in patients that underwent surgical procedures in the United States before and after Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (MACRA) implementation. DESIGN: Retrospective, Observational cohort study. SETTING: Secondary data were collected from the U.S. National Inpatient Sample, the largest hospital database in the country. The time span was from 2011 to 2019. PATIENTS: Adult patients that electively underwent 1 of 19 major procedures. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was cumulative postoperative mortality in two study cohorts. The secondary outcome was palliative care use. We identified 4,900,451 patients and categorized them into two study cohorts: PreM: 2011–2014 (n = 2,103,836) and PostM: 2016–2019 (n = 2,796,615). Regression discontinuity estimates and multivariate analysis were used. Across all procedures, 149,372 patients (7.1%) and 156,610 patients (5%) died within 30 days of their index procedures in the PreM and PostM cohorts, respectively. There was no statistically significant increase in mortality rates around postoperative day (POD) 30 (POD 26–30 vs 31–35) for both cohorts. More patients had inpatient palliative consultations during POD 31–60 compared with POD 1–30 in PreM (8,533 of 2,081,207 patients [0.4%] vs 1,118 of 22,629 patients [4.9%]) and PostM (18,915 of 2,791,712 patients [0.7%] vs 417 of 4,903 patients [8.5%]). Patients were more likely to receive palliative care consultations during POD 31–60 compared with POD 1–30 in both the PreM (odds ratio [OR] 5.31; 95% CI, 2.22–8.68; p < 0.001) and the PostM (OR 7.84; 95% CI, 4.83–9.10; p < 0.001) cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: We did not observe an increase in postoperative mortality after POD 30 before or after MACRA implementation. However, palliative care use markedly increased after POD 30. These findings should be considered hypothesis-generating because of several confounders.