Single center experience and early outcomes of Impella 5.5.

Background: Acute decompensated heart failure (HF) and cardiogenic shock (CS) frequently are refractory to conservative treatment and require mechanical circulatory support (MCS). We report our early clinical experience and evaluate patient outcomes with the newer generation surgical Impella 5.5. Methods: Seventy patients that underwent Impella 5.5 implantation between October 2019 and December 2021 at a single center were enrolled in this study. Pre-operative characteristics, peri-operative clinical course information, and post-operative outcomes were retrospectively collected. Results: Fifty-seven (81%) patients survived to discharge, and 51 (76%) patients survived at the time of the first 30 days post-discharge visit. Thirty-one patients (44%) received Impella support for a bridge to advanced surgical heart failure therapy (transplant or durable left ventricular assist device [LVAD]), 27 (39%) cases were used for a bridge to recovery/decision and 12 (17.1%) cases was used for planned perioperative support for high-risk cardiac surgery procedure. Conclusion: Our results suggest that Impella 5.5 provides favorable survival in the management of HF and CS, particularly used for a bridge to heart transplant or LVAD. Early extubation and mobilization with high flow circulatory support allowed effective tailoring of MCS approaches from peri-operative support for high-risk cardiac surgery, bridge to recovery, and to advanced surgical heart failure therapy.

Impact of Enhanced External Counterpulsation on Heart Failure Rehospitalization in Patients With Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.

Heart failure (HF) affects millions of Americans and causes financial burdens because of the need for rehospitalization. For this reason, health care systems and patients alike are seeking methods to decrease readmissions. We assessed the potential for reducing readmissions of patients with postacute care HF through an educational program combined with enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP). We examined 99 patients with HF who were referred to EECP centers and received heart failure education and EECP treatment within 90 days of hospital discharge from March 2013 to January 2015. We compared observed and predicted 90-day readmission rates and examined results of 6-minute walk tests, Duke Activity Status Index, New York Heart Association classification, and Canadian Cardiovascular Society classification before and after EECP. Patients were treated with EECP at a median augmentation pressure of 280 mm Hg (quartile 1 = 240, quartile 3 = 280), achieved as early as the first treatment. Augmentation ratios varied from 0.4 to 1.9, with a median of 1.0 (quartile 1 = 0.8, quartile 3 = 1.2). Only 6 patients (6.1%) had unplanned readmissions compared to the predicted 34%, p <0.0001. The average increase in distance walked was 52 m (18.4%), and the median increase in Duke Activity Status Index was 9.95 points (100%), p values <0.0001. New York Heart Association and Canadian Cardiovascular Society classes improved in 61% and 60% of the patients, respectively. In conclusion, patients with HF who received education and EECP within 90 days of discharge had significantly lower readmission rates than predicted, and improved functional status, walk distance, and symptoms.

Surface electrocardiography and histologic rejection following orthotopic heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Intraventricular conduction delay and QT interval dispersion may be related to electrical instability and the risk of ventricular arrhythmogenesis. The interlead variability of the QT interval on a surface 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) has been associated with an increased likelihood of sudden death in patients with long QT syndromes, in patients recovering from myocardial infarction, and dilated cardiomyopathy. We sought to determine the incidence of increased QT(c) dispersion (QT(c-d)) relative to biopsy grade of severity of rejection. METHODS: Records of patients having undergone orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) were reviewed focusing specifically on surface ECGs performed in temporal proximity to endomyocardial biopsy. RESULTS: Seventy-five patients were evaluated on 1573 occasions, to include 999 surface ECGs, and 847 endomyocardial biopsies. There were 269 interpretable surface ECGs and endomyocardial biopsies performed within 1.1 +/- 4.6 days. There were no identifiable trends in atrioventricular or intraventricular conduction abnormalities (to include right bundle branch block) when comparing those with and without significant rejection on endomyocardial biopsy. The mean QT(c-d) of those with none (n = 34), mild (n = 194), moderate (n = 39), and severe (n = 2) rejection was 49 +/- 29, 49 +/- 35, 57 +/- 38, 81 +/- 7 ms, respectively (P = 0.28 by ANOVA of means). When comparing those with significant rejection so as to change management there was a trend toward increased dispersion (no to mild rejection, 49 +/- 34 ms vs moderate to severe rejection, 59 +/- 37 ms, P = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: In this study investigating noninvasive ventricular depolarization/repolarization and correlation to histologic manifestation of rejection, there was suggestion, but no statistical significance, of QT(c-d) and severity of rejection. QT(c-d) should not be considered a sensitive marker for OHT rejection.

Long-term healthcare and cost outcomes of disease management in a large, randomized, community-based population with heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Because of the prevalence and expense of congestive heart failure (CHF), significant efforts have been made to develop disease management (DM) programs that will improve clinical and financial outcomes. The effectiveness of such programs in a large, heterogeneous population of CHF patients remains unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: We randomized 1069 patients (aged 70.9+/-10.3 years) with systolic (ejection fraction 35+/-9%) or echocardiographically confirmed diastolic heart failure (HF) to assess telephonic DM over an 18-month period. Data were collected at baseline and at 6-month intervals. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods. Healthcare utilization was defined after extensive record review, with an attempt to account for all inpatient and outpatient visits, medications, and diagnostic tests. We obtained data on 92% of the patients, from nearly 53,000 health-related encounters. Total cost per patient was defined by adding estimated costs for the observed encounters, excluding the cost of the DM. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that DM patients had a reduced mortality rate (P=0.037), with DM patients surviving an average of 76 days longer than controls. Subgroup analysis showed that DM had beneficial outcomes in patients with systolic HF (hazard ratio 0.62; P=0.040), which was more pronounced in NYHA classes III and IV. Although improvements in NYHA class were more likely with DM (P<0.001), 6-minute walk data from 217 patients in whom data were available at each visit showed no significant benefit from DM (P=0.08). Total and CHF-related healthcare utilization, including medications, office or emergency department visits, procedures, or hospitalizations, was not decreased by DM. Repeated-measures ANOVA for cost by group showed no significant differences, even in the higher NYHA class groups. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in DM resulted in a significant survival benefit, most notably in symptomatic systolic HF patients. Although DM was associated with improved NYHA class, 6-minute walk test results did not improve. Healthcare utilization was not reduced by DM, and it conferred no cost savings. DM in HF results in improved life expectancy but does not improve objective measures of functional capacity and does not reduce cost.

Isolated right ventricular failure in scleroderma heart disease.

Scleroderma is reported to have numerous cardiac manifestations. Right ventricular failure (RVF) is a well-recognized cardiac complication of scleroderma and most often is related to underlying pulmonary hypertension (PH). Causes of PH include both interstitial lung disease and pulmonary artery vasculopathy. Direct involvement of the ventricle by myocardial fibrosis or coronary vasospasm could also cause a diffuse bilateral cardiomyopathy. We describe a case of predominant RVF in the absence of significant PH in a patient with longstanding scleroderma.