Cost-Effectiveness of Screening Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis by Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk.

Importance: Extracranial internal carotid artery stenosis (50-99% arterial narrowing) is an important risk factor for ischemic stroke. Yet, the benefits and harms of targeted screening for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) have not been assessed in population-based studies. Objective: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of one-time, targeted ACAS screening stratified by atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk using the American Heart Association's Pooled Cohort Equations. Design Setting and Participants: We developed a lifetime microsimulation model of ACAS and stroke for a hypothetical cohort representative of US adults aged 50-80 years without stroke history. We used the Cardiovascular Health Study to estimate the probability and severity of ACAS based on individual characteristics (e.g., age, sex, smoking status, blood pressure, and cholesterol). Stroke risks were functions of these characteristics and ACAS severity. In the model, individuals testing positive for >70% stenosis with Duplex ultrasound and a confirmatory diagnostic test undergo revascularization, which may reduce the risk of stroke but also introduces complication risks. Diagnostic performance parameters, revascularization benefits and risks, utility weights, and costs were estimated from published sources. Cost-effectiveness was assessed from the health care sector perspective using a $100,000/quality-adjusted life year (QALY) threshold. Main Outcomes and Measures: Estimated stroke events prevented, lifetime costs, QALYs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) associated with ACAS screening. Costs (2023 USD) and QALYs were discounted at 3% annually. Results: We found that screening individuals with a 10-year ASCVD risk >30% was the most cost-effective strategy, with an ICER of $89,000/QALY. This strategy would make approximately 11.9% of the population eligible for screening, averting an estimated 24,084 strokes. Results were sensitive to variations in the efficacy and complication risk of revascularization. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, screening those in lower ASCVD risk groups (0-20%) only had a 0.6% chance of being cost-effective. Conclusion and Relevance: A one-time screening may only be cost-effective for adults at a relatively high ASCVD risk. Our findings provide a framework that can be adapted as future clinical trial data continue to improve our understanding of the role of revascularization and intensive medical therapy in contemporary stroke prevention secondary to carotid disease.

Assessing the quality of shared decision making for elective orthopedic surgery across a large healthcare system: cross-sectional survey study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical guidelines recommend engaging patients in shared decision making for common orthopedic procedures; however, limited work has assessed what is occurring in practice. This study assessed the quality of shared decision making for elective hip and knee replacement and spine surgery at four network-affiliated hospitals. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 875 adult patients undergoing total hip or knee joint replacement (TJR) for osteoarthritis or spine surgery for lumbar herniated disc or lumbar spinal stenosis was selected. Patients were mailed a survey including measures of Shared Decision Making (SDMP scale) and Informed, Patient-Centered (IPC) decisions. We examined decision-making across sites, surgeons, and conditions, and whether the decision-making measures were associated with better health outcomes. Analyses were adjusted for clustering of patients within surgeons. RESULTS: Six hundred forty-six surveys (74% response rate) were returned with sufficient responses for analysis. Patients who had TJR reported lower SDMP scores than patients who had spine surgery (2.2 vs. 2.8; p < 0.001). Patients who had TJR were more likely to make IPC decisions (OA = 70%, Spine = 41%; p < 0.001). SDMP and IPC scores varied widely across surgeons, but the site was not predictive of SDMP scores or IPC decisions (all p > 0.09). Higher SDMP scores and IPC decisions were associated with larger improvements in global health outcomes for patients who had TJR, but not patients who had spine surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Measures of shared decision making and decision quality varied among patients undergoing common elective orthopedic procedures. Routine measurement of shared decision making provides insight into areas of strength across these different orthopedic conditions as well as areas in need of improvement.

Fatty acid metabolism and colon cancer protection by dietary methyl donor restriction.

INTRODUCTION: A methyl donor depleted (MDD) diet dramatically suppresses intestinal tumor development in Apc-mutant mice, but the mechanism of this prevention is not entirely clear. OBJECTIVES: We sought to gain insight into the mechanisms of cancer suppression by the MDD diet and to identify biomarkers of cancer risk reduction. METHODS: A plasma metabolomic analysis was performed on ApcΔ14/+ mice maintained on either a methyl donor sufficient (MDS) diet or the protective MDD diet. A group of MDS animals was also pair-fed with the MDD mice to normalize caloric intake, and another group was shifted from an MDD to MDS diet to determine the durability of the metabolic changes. RESULTS: In addition to the anticipated changes in folate one-carbon metabolites, plasma metabolites related to fatty acid metabolism were generally decreased by the MDD diet, including carnitine, acylcarnitines, and fatty acids. Some fatty acid selectivity was observed; the levels of cancer-promoting arachidonic acid and 2-hydroxyglutarate were decreased by the MDD diet, whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) levels were increased. Machine-learning elastic net analysis revealed a positive association between the fatty acid-related compounds azelate and 7-hydroxycholesterol and tumor development, and a negative correlation with succinate and ß-sitosterol. CONCLUSION: Methyl donor restriction causes dramatic changes in systemic fatty acid metabolism. Regulating fatty acid metabolism through methyl donor restriction favorably effects fatty acid profiles to achieve cancer protection.

Validation of an electronic coding algorithm to identify the primary indication of orthopedic surgeries from administrative data.

BACKGROUND: Determining the primary indication of a surgical procedure can be useful in identifying patients undergoing elective surgery where shared decision-making is recommended. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an algorithm to identify patients receiving the following combinations of surgical procedure and primary indication as part of a study to promote shared decision-making: (1) knee arthroplasty to treat knee osteoarthritis (KOA); (2) hip arthroplasty to treat hip osteoarthritis (HOA); (3) spinal surgery to treat lumbar spinal stenosis (SpS); and (4) spinal surgery to treat lumbar herniated disc (HD). METHODS: Consecutive surgical procedures performed by participating spine, hip, and knee surgeons at four sites within an integrated care network were included. Study staff reviewed electronic medical records to ascertain a "gold standard" determination of the procedure and primary indication status. Electronic algorithms consisting of ICD-10 and CPT codes for each combination of procedure and indication were then applied to records for each case. The primary measures of validity for the algorithms were the sensitivity and specificity relative to the gold standard review. RESULTS: Participating surgeons performed 790 procedures included in this study. The sensitivity of the algorithms in determining whether a surgical case represented one of the combinations of procedure and primary indication ranged from 0.70 (HD) to 0.92 (KOA). The specificity ranged from 0.94 (SpS) to 0.99 (HOA, KOA). CONCLUSION: The electronic algorithm was able to identify all four procedure/primary indication combinations of interest with high specificity. Additionally, the sensitivity for the KOA cases was reasonably high. For HOA and the spine conditions, additional work is needed to improve the sensitivity of the algorithm to identify the primary indication for each case.