Alabama coronary artery bypass grafting project: results of a statewide quality improvement initiative.

CONTEXT: Efforts to improve quality of care in the cardiac surgery field have focused on reducing the risk-adjusted mortality associated with common surgical procedures, such as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, the best methodological approach to improvement is under debate. OBJECTIVE: To test an intervention to improve performance of CABG surgery. DESIGN AND SETTING: Quality improvement project based on baseline (July 1, 1995-June 30, 1996) and follow-up (July 1-December 31, 1998) performance measurements from medical record review for all 20 Alabama hospitals that provided CABG surgery. PATIENTS: Medicare patients discharged after CABG surgery in Alabama (n = 5784), a comparison state (n = 3214), and a national sample (n = 3758). INTERVENTION: Confidential hospital-specific performance feedback and assistance with multimodal improvement interventions, including the option to share relevant experience with peers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Duration of intubation, reintubation rate, aspirin therapy at discharge, use of the internal mammary artery (IMA), hospital readmission rate, and risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Proportion of extubation within 6 hours increased from 9% to 41% in Alabama, decreased from 40% to 39% in the comparison state, and increased from 12% to 25% in the national sample. Use of IMA increased from 73% to 84%, 48% to 55%, and 74% to 81%, respectively, in the 3 samples, but aspirin use increased only in Alabama (from 88% to 92%). The amount of improvement in all 3 of these process measures was greater in Alabama than in the other samples (IMA use for Alabama vs comparison state was P =.001 and for Alabama vs national sample, P =.02; and P<.001 for all other comparisons). Risk-adjusted mortality decreased in Alabama (4.9% to 2.9%), but this decrease was not statistically significantly different from mortality changes in the other groups (odds ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.54-1.07 vs national sample). CONCLUSION: Confidential peer-based regional performance feedback and process-oriented analysis of shared experience are associated with some improvement in quality of care for patients who underwent CABG surgery.

Repair of atrioventricular canal malformation in the first year of life.

Disappointing results with pulmonary artery banding and subsequent correction led to the decision in 1977 that all infants presenting to our hospital with atrioventricular (AV) canal and evidence of severe heart failure, lack of growth, or pulmonary hypertension should have early operative correction. Since that time 24 consecutive infants have undergone repair. All had refractory heart failure. Average age at operation was 18 weeks (3 to 38) and average weight was 4.3 kg (2.3 to 6.4). Only four patients were older than 6 months of age at operation. Preoperative peak pulmonary artery pressure was 81 +/- 3.3 mm Hg, which was equal to systemic arterial pressure in all cases. Mean pulmonary-to-systemic resistance ratio was 0.28 +/- 0.05. five patients had moderate mitral regurgitation and five had a ductus arteriosus. Three had significant associated malformations. Profound hypothermia and circulatory arrest were utilized in all patients. Common AV valve tissue was divided and valvular integrity was ensured by resuspension to a single Dacron patch which closed both the atrial and ventricular defects. Operative death occurred in two patients (8%) both with associated defects (one with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection and the other with coarctation). One late death occurred in a patient with associated partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection, and one patient has had a pacemaker implanted. Survivors have been followed for 7 to 60 months. All patients are growing at an increased rate postoperatively. All cardiac medications have been discontinued in 16 of 21 patients. Operative repair of complete atrioventricular canal can be performed in infancy with low operative and late death rates and will relieve signs and symptoms of heart failure and allow more normal growth and development. On the basis of this experience, it appears unnecessary to delay operative correction with the known increased risk of the development of pulmonary hypertension.

Repair of mycotic aneurysms of the aorta involving the aortic valve.

This report summarizes our successful management of 6 patients who underwent repair of mycotic aneurysms of the ascending aorta within a four-year period. Repairs have been successful despite involvement of as much as two-thirds of the circumference of the aortic valve annulus, involvement of the origin of the right coronary artery, and development of heart block. Three patients required surgical intervention because of hemodynamic decompensation before they had completed antibiotic therapy for endocarditis. In 3 patients, the aneurysm was buttressed with the valve skirt so that aneurysm repair and valve replacement were accomplished in continuity. In 2 patients, the aneurysm was repaired separately and the valve seated on the repair. In 1 patient, a large defect between the left and right coronary arteries was repaired with a woven Dacron patch secured to the valve skirt. The valve was seated to the left ventricle and the graft to the aorta. There were no operative or postoperative deaths. Our data suggest that mycotic aneurysms of the aortic annulus can be successfully repaired despite extensive damage.

Palliation for esophageal carcinoma.

Fifty-three patients with carcinoma of the esophagus treated since 1972 are reviewed. Eighteen unresectable patients with distant metastases or pulmonary insufficiency were treated with irradiation or with esophageal or gastrostomy tubes plus irradiation. There were 5 early deaths, and only 3 patients survived more than three months. Six patients underwent bypass. Three died in the hospital, and 1 lived three months. None compled a course of irradiation or gained weight. The remaining 29 patients, who did not differ clinically from the bypass group, underwent resection for palliation or cure. There were 5 hospital deaths. Twenty patients lived more than three months and 7 of these more than one year. Two of them apparently were cured. These data indicate that the only effective means of increasing the duration of survival for esophageal carcinoma is resection with immediate reconstruction.

Continuous heparin anticoagulation in patients with arteriosclerosis and arterial emboli.

Management of arterial emboli occurring in patients having generalized arteriosclerosis presents a therapeutic challenge to the vascular surgeon. Adequate cardiac function must be vigorously supported. Perioperative metabolic alterations must be recognized and corrected. Continuous anticoagulation with heparin sodium appears indicated among such patients with coexisting peripheral arterial occlusive disease, stasis, poor collateral flow and areas of intimal damage secondary to operative trauma. Rarity of wound complications, less than 5 per cent, may be attributed to meticulous operative technique and use of continuous infusion method for the administration of heparin. Improved patient survival and limb salvage rates may be attributed, in part, to continuing heparin therapy in the postoperative period and appears justified among those with arteriosclerosis.

Diagnostic errors with peritoneal lavage in patients with pelvic fractures.

Diagnostic peritoneal lavage, considered to be a highly accurate, technique for detecting intraperitoneal blood in the trauma patient, may be less reliable in the presence of a pelvic fracture. In a retrospective review of 222 patients with pelvic fractures, 61 patients were found who had had a diagnostic peritoneal lavage performed as part of the initial evaluation of their condition. Twenty-six of these patients had had a negative lavage result negative lavage result. There had been no false-negative results in this group, although six patients required operations for extraperitoneal injuries. Of the 35 patients with a positive lavage results, 10 (29%) were found to have false-positive lavage results with no intraperitoneal source of bleeding. The only deaths in this series occurred in the group requiring operations, eight of 41 (20%). Four of the eight detahs were due to uncontrollable bleeding that resulted from exploration of the retroperitoneal hematoma. These data suggest that a negative lavage result is highly reliable in the patient with a pelvic fracture and should allow management with confidence that there is no severe intraperitoneal injury. Positive lavage results, however, must be interpreted with caution.

Repair of chest wall defects with prosthetic material.

This report summarizes our experience during a four-year period with the repair of 8 thoracic cage and 3 diaphragmatic defects requiring reinforcement with prosthetic material. Defects as large as the entire left hemidiaphragm or the right anterior chest wall including ribs two through six from the midsternum to the midaxillary line were adequately repaired. The technical approach utilized to obtain a secure, nonmobile thoracic cage involved the placement of sutures through drill holes or around ribs, rather than through the periosteum or pericostal soft tissues. Successful diaphragmatic repair was dependent on proper anchoring of the medial border of the prosthesis, placing sutures in the pericardium as necessary. Skin coverage for thoracic cage defects was achieved with widely undermined and advanced local tissue or previously delayed pedicle flaps. All patients had good evidence of chest wall stabilization after operation, and all were removed from mechanical ventilation within three days. One patient died of myocardial infarction twenty days after operation, and a second patient died later of metastatic disease. On the basis of our experience, we conclude that the range of chest wall lesions that can be surgically corrected or palliated is increased by the use of prosthetics implanted with techniques described here.