Sattur, Sudhakar

Background The comparative effects of statins, ezetimibe with or without statins and proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors remain unassessed. Design Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted to compare treatment groups. Methods Thirty-nine randomized controlled trials were selected using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL (inception – September 2017). Results In network meta-analysis of 189,116 patients, PCSK9 inhibitors were ranked as the best treatment for prevention of major adverse cardiovascular events (Surface Under Cumulative Ranking Curve (SUCRA), 85%), myocardial infarction (SUCRA, 84%) and stroke (SUCRA, 80%). PCSK9 inhibitors reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events compared with ezetimibe + statin (odds ratio (OR): 0.72; 95% credible interval (CrI), 0.55–0.95; Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria: moderate), statin (OR: 0.78; 95% CrI: 0.62–0.97; GRADE: moderate) and placebo (OR: 0.63; 95% CrI: 0.49–0.79; GRADE: high). The PCSK9 inhibitors were consistently superior to groups for major adverse cardiovascular event reduction in secondary prevention trials (SUCRA, 95%). Statins had the highest probability of having lowest rates of all-cause mortality (SUCRA, 82%) and cardiovascular mortality (SUCRA, 84%). Compared with placebo, statins reduced the risk of all-cause mortality (OR: 0.88; 95% CrI: 0.83–0.94; GRADE: moderate) and cardiovascular mortality (OR: 0.84; 95% CrI: 0.77–0.90; GRADE: high). For cardiovascular mortality, PCSK9 inhibitors were ranked as the second best treatment (SUCRA, 78%) followed by ezetimibe + statin (SUCRA, 50%). Conclusion PCSK9 inhibitors were ranked as the most effective treatment for reducing major adverse cardiovascular events, myocardial infarction and stroke, without having major safety concerns. Statins were ranked as the most effective therapy for reducing mortality.

AbstractBackgroundUnderstanding the factors associated with early readmissions following atrial flutter (AFL) ablation is critical to reduce the cost and improving the quality of life in AFL patients.MethodThe study cohort was derived from the national readmission database 2013–2014. International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD‐9‐CM) diagnosis code 427.32 and procedure code 37.34 were used to identify AFL and catheter ablation, respectively. The primary and secondary outcomes were 90‐day readmission and complications including in‐hospital mortality. Cox proportional regression and hierarchical logistic regression were used to generate the predictors of primary and secondary outcomes respectively. Readmission causes were identified by ICD‐9‐CM code in primary diagnosis field of readmissions.ResultReadmission rate of 18.19% (n = 1,010 with 1,396 readmissions) was noted among AFL patients (n = 5552). Common etiologies for readmission were heart failure (12.23%), atrial fibrillation (11.13%), atrial flutter (8.93%), respiratory complications (9.42%), infections (7.4%), bleeding (7.39%, including GI bleed–4.09% and intracranial bleed–0.79%) and stroke/TIA (1.89%). Multivariate predictors of 90‐day readmission (hazard ratio, 95% confidence interval, P value) were preexisting heart failure (1.30, 1.13–1.49, P < 0.001), chronic pulmonary disease (1.37, 1.18–1.58, P < 0.001), anemia (1.23, 1.02–1.49, P = 0.035), malignancy (1.87, 1.40–2.49, P < 0.001), weekend admission compared to weekday admission (1.23, 1.02–1.47, P = 0.029), and length of stay (LOS) ≥5 days (1.39, 1.16–1.65, P < 0.001). Note that 50% of readmissions happened within 30 days of discharge.ConclusionCardiac etiologies remain the most common reason for the readmission after AFL ablation. Identifying high risk patients, careful discharge planning, and close follow‐up postdischarge can potentially reduce readmission rates in AFL ablation patients.