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Hospital patterns of medical management strategy use for patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction and 3-vessel or left main coronary artery disease.
Am Heart J. 2014 Mar;167(3):355-362.e3
Authors: Harskamp RE, Wang TY, Bhatt DL, Wiviott SD, Amsterdam EA, Li S, Thomas L, de Winter RJ, Roe MT
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and three-vessel or left main coronary disease (3VD/LMD) have a high risk of long-term mortality when treated with a medical management strategy (MMS) compared with revascularization.
METHODS: We evaluated patterns of use and patient features across United States hospitals designated by MMS for NSTEMI patients with 3VD/LMD included in the ACTION Registry-GWTG from 2007-2012.
RESULTS: A total of 42,535 patients without prior bypass surgery were found to have 3VD (≥50% stenosis in all major coronary vessels) or LMD (≥50% lesion) during in-hospital angiography at 423 hospitals with percutaneous and surgical revascularization capabilities. Hospitals (n = 316) with an adequate volume (≥25 NSTEMI patients treated) were stratified into tertiles defined by use of MMS; differences in patient characteristics and outcomes were analyzed. The proportion of NSTEMI patients treated with MMS at all hospitals varied from 16% to 19% each quarter and did not change significantly from 2007 to 2012 (P trend = .11). Among hospitals with adequate volume, the proportion of patients treated with MMS also varied widely (median 17.1%, range: 0.0-44.8%, P < .0001). Patient baseline characteristics, predicted mortality risk, actual in-hospital mortality rates, and discharge treatments were similar across hospital tertiles.
CONCLUSIONS: Close to 20% of patients with NSTEMI and 3VD/LMD identified during in-hospital angiography are treated with MMS without revascularization in contemporary practice. Since the use of MMS varies widely across hospitals despite a relatively similar hospital-level case mix, these findings suggest that there is no standard threshold for the use of revascularization in NSTEMI patients with 3VD/LMD.
PMID: 24576520 [PubMed - in process]