Peripheral artery disease (PAD) stems from atherosclerosis of lower extremity arteries with resultant arterial narrowing or occlusion. The most severe form of PAD is termed chronic limb-threatening ...ischemia and carries a significant risk of limb loss and cardiovascular mortality. Diabetes mellitus is known to increase the incidence of PAD, accelerate disease progression, and increase disease severity. Patients with concomitant diabetes mellitus and PAD are at high risk for major complications, such as amputation. Despite a decrease in the overall number of amputations performed annually in the United States, amputation rates among those with both diabetes mellitus and PAD have remained stable or even increased in high-risk subgroups. Within this cohort, there is significant regional, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic variation in amputation risk. Specifically, residents of rural areas, African-American and Native American patients, and those of low socioeconomic status carry the highest risk of amputation. The burden of amputation is severe, with 5-year mortality rates exceeding those of many malignancies. Furthermore, caring for patients with PAD and diabetes mellitus imposes a significant cost to the healthcare system—estimated to range from $84 billion to $380 billion annually. Efforts to improve the quality of care for those with PAD and diabetes mellitus must focus on the subgroups at high risk for amputation and the disparities they face in the receipt of both preventive and interventional cardiovascular care. Better understanding of these social, economic, and structural barriers will prove to be crucial for cardiovascular physicians striving to better care for patients facing this challenging combination of chronic diseases.
Introduction Advances in endovascular interventions have expanded the options available for the invasive treatment of lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Whether endovascular ...interventions substitute for conventional bypass surgery or are simply additive has not been investigated, and their effect on amputation rates is unknown. Methods We sought to analyze trends in lower extremity endovascular interventions (angioplasty and atherectomy), lower extremity bypass surgery, and major amputation (above and below-knee) in Medicare beneficiaries between 1996 and 2006. We used 100% samples of Medicare Part B claims to calculate annual procedure rates of lower extremity bypass surgery, endovascular interventions (angioplasty and atherectomy), and major amputation between 1996 and 2006. Using physician specialty identifiers, we also examined trends in the specialty performing the primary procedure. Results Between 1996 and 2006, the rate of major lower extremity amputation declined significantly (263 to 188 per 100,000; risk ratio RR 0.71, 95% confidence interval CI 0.6-0.8). Endovascular interventions increased more than threefold (from 138 to 455 per 100,000; RR = 3.30; 95% CI: 2.9-3.7) while bypass surgery decreased by 42% (219 to 126 per 100,000; RR = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.5-0.7). The increase in endovascular interventions consisted both of a growth in peripheral angioplasty (from 135 to 337 procedures per 100,000; RR = 2.49; 95% CI: 2.2-2.8) and the advent of percutaneous atherectomy (from 3 to 118 per 100,000; RR = 43.12; 95% CI: 34.8-52.0). While radiologists performed the majority of endovascular interventions in 1996, more than 80% were performed by cardiologists and vascular surgeons by 2006. Overall, the total number of all lower extremity vascular procedures almost doubled over the decade (from 357 to 581 per 100,000; RR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.5-1.8). Conclusion Endovascular interventions are now performed much more commonly than bypass surgery in the treatment of lower extremity PAD. These changes far exceed simple substitution, as more than three additional endovascular interventions were performed for every one procedure declined in lower extremity bypass surgery. During this same time period, major lower extremity amputation rates have fallen by more than 25%. However, further study is needed before any causal link can be established between lower extremity vascular procedures and improved rates of limb salvage in patients with PAD.
Aortic aneurysms grow silently, most commonly without signs or symptoms. Rupture leads to death unless the aortic aneurysm is discovered and repaired, leaving the individual and their loved ones to ...wonder what might have happened if the aneurysm had remained undiscovered. A desire to screen for aortic aneurysms is a natural response by physicians, patients, and families to the help avoid death from rupture because screening could potentially identify aortic aneurysms and allow repair for individuals in whom the risk of rupture exceeds their risk of operative repair. Identification of simple risk factors such as age and smoking status has helped the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) endorse screening ultrasound imaging for abdominal aortic aneurysm, focusing on male patients aged 65 to 75 years who have ever smoked, yet several studies have found this recommendation to be of moderate net benefit. The value of screening programs elsewhere in the aorta, however, are much less clear.
Nontraumatic lower-extremity amputation is a devastating complication of peripheral artery disease (PAD) with a high mortality and medical expenditure. There are ≈150 000 nontraumatic leg amputations ...every year in the United States, and most cases occur in patients with diabetes. Among patients with diabetes, after an ≈40% decline between 2000 and 2009, the amputation rate increased by 50% from 2009 to 2015. A number of evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for PAD can reduce amputation risk. However, their implementation and adherence are suboptimal. Some racial/ethnic groups have an elevated risk of PAD but less access to high-quality vascular care, leading to increased rates of amputation. To stop, and indeed reverse, the increasing trends of amputation, actionable policies that will reduce the incidence of critical limb ischemia and enhance delivery of optimal care are needed. This statement describes the impact of amputation on patients and society, summarizes medical approaches to identify PAD and prevent its progression, and proposes policy solutions to prevent limb amputation. Among the actions recommended are improving public awareness of PAD and greater use of effective PAD management strategies (eg, smoking cessation, use of statins, and foot monitoring/care in patients with diabetes). To facilitate the implementation of these recommendations, we propose several regulatory/legislative and organizational/institutional policies such as adoption of quality measures for PAD care; affordable prevention, diagnosis, and management; regulation of tobacco products; clinical decision support for PAD care; professional education; and dedicated funding opportunities to support PAD research. If these recommendations and proposed policies are implemented, we should be able to achieve the goal of reducing the rate of nontraumatic lower-extremity amputations by 20% by 2030.
Open repair effectively prevents rupture for patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and is commonly studied as a metric reflecting hospital and surgeon expertise in cardiovascular care. ...However, given recent advances in endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), such as branched-fenestrated EVAR, it is unknown how commonly open surgical repair is still used in everyday practice.
We analyzed trends in open AAA repair, EVAR, and branched-fenestrated EVAR for AAA in Medicare beneficiaries from 2003 to 2013. We used Medicare Part B claims to ascertain counts of these repair types annually during the study period. We assessed regional and national trends in characteristics of the patients and procedure volume.
Between 2003 and 2013, the total number of AAA repairs performed in fee-for-service Medicare patients declined by 26% from 31,582 to 23,421 (P < .001), after a peak number of 32,540 was performed in 2005 (28% decline since 2005). The number of open AAA repairs steadily declined by a total of 76%, from 20,533 in 2003 to 4916 in 2013 (P < .001). Whereas the number of EVARs increased from 11,049 in 2003 to 19,247 in 2011 (P < .001), it has since declined a total of 15% to only 16,362 repairs in 2013 (P < .001). After its introduction in 2011, the number of branched-fenestrated EVAR cases continuously rose from 335 procedures in 2011 to 2143 procedures in 2013 (P < .001). By 2013, virtually all hospital referral regions in the United States had rates of open AAA repair that would have been in the lowest quintile of volume in 2003.
The number of open AAA repairs fell by nearly 80% during the last decade, whereas traditional EVAR declined slightly and branched-fenestrated EVAR rapidly disseminated into national practice. These results suggest that open AAA repair is now performed too infrequently to be used as a metric in the assessment of hospital and surgeon quality in cardiovascular care. Furthermore, surgical training paradigms will need to reflect the changing dynamics necessary to ensure that surgeons and interventionists can safely perform these high-risk surgical procedures.
The advent of endovascular repair for both thoracic aortic aneurysm and type B dissection has transformed the management of these disease processes. This study was undertaken to better define, ...compare, and contrast the national trends in hospital admissions, invasive treatments, and inpatient mortality of patients with thoracic aortic aneurysm and type B dissection in the National Inpatient Sample.
The cohort was derived from International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis codes for thoracic aortic dissection and thoracic aortic or thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. Patients receiving type A dissection or ascending aortic repair during their index admission were excluded using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision procedure codes. A total of 155,187 patients were available for analysis from 2000 to 2012.
Admissions for thoracic aortic aneurysm outnumbered the admissions for type B dissection (69.8% vs 30.2%; P < .001), and the number of admissions for aneurysm grew more rapidly during this time (132% vs 63%; P < .001). Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for aneurysm experienced an increase in 2005, concordant with Food and Drug Administration approval of TEVAR for thoracic aortic aneurysm indication, then superseded open repair for thoracic aortic aneurysm from 2006 onward. Despite this, the rate of thoracic aortic aneurysm repair has remained relatively stable over time. TEVAR for dissection increased in 2006, superseded open repair in 2010, and continues to account for 50.5% of all dissection repairs. Overall, the number of type B dissection repairs has increased (P < .001), over and above the increase in number of admissions for type B dissection. Despite the increased trends of utilization of TEVAR for both aneurysm and type B dissection, the overall in-hospital mortality rate among patients admitted for either disease state has decreased steadily over time (P < .001).
Whereas admissions for thoracic aortic aneurysm disease have increased over time, the rate of aneurysm repair has been stable, although TEVAR has supplanted a proportion of open repairs. In contrast, whereas admissions for type B dissection have experienced a more modest increase, there has been a disproportionate increase in type B dissection repair, largely due to increased use of TEVAR. These results show embracing of endovascular technology for dissection through expansion of indication. Despite the increase in rate of repair for type B dissection, inpatient mortality rate was reduced in both aneurysm and dissection patients, influenced by appropriate selection of patients for intervention.
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Summary Background Hospital readmissions are common after major surgery, although it is unknown whether patients achieve improved outcomes when they are readmitted to, and receive care at, the index ...hospital where their surgical procedure was done. We examined the association between readmission destination and mortality risk in the USA in Medicare beneficiaries after a range of common operations. Methods By use of claims data from Medicare beneficiaries in the USA between Jan 1, 2001, and Nov 15, 2011, we assessed patients who needed hospital readmission within 30 days after open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, infrainguinal arterial bypass, aortobifemoral bypass, coronary artery bypass surgery, oesophagectomy, colectomy, pancreatectomy, cholecystectomy, ventral hernia repair, craniotomy, hip replacement, or knee replacement. We used logistic regression models incorporating inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable analysis to measure associations between readmission destination (index vs non-index hospital) and risk of 90 day mortality for patients who underwent surgery who needed hospital readmission. Findings 9 440 503 patients underwent one of 12 major operations, and the number of patients readmitted or transferred back to the index hospital where their operation was done varied from 186 336 (65·8%) of 283 131 patients who were readmitted after coronary artery bypass grafting, to 142 142 (83·2%) of 170 789 patients who were readmitted after colectomy. Readmission was more likely to be to the index hospital than to a non-index hospital if the readmission was for a surgical complication (189 384 23% of 834 070 patients readmitted to index hospital vs 36 792 13% of 276 976 patients readmitted non-index hospital, p<0·0001). Readmission to the index hospital was associated with a 26% lower risk of 90 day mortality than was readmission to a non-index hospital, with inverse probability weighting used to control for selection bias (odds ratio OR 0·74, 95% CI 0·66–0·83). This effect was significant (p<0·0001) for all procedures in inverse probability-weighted models, and was largest for patients who were readmitted after pancreatectomy (OR 0·56, 95% CI 0·45–0·69) and aortobifemoral bypass (OR 0·69, 95% CI 0·61–0·77). By use of hospital-level variation among regional index hospital readmission rates as an instrument, instrumental variable analysis showed that the patients with the highest probability of returning to the index hospital had 8% lower risk of mortality (OR 0·92 95% CI 0·91–0·94) than did patients who were less likely to be readmitted to the index hospital. Interpretation In the USA, patients who are readmitted to hospital after various major operations consistently achieve improved survival if they return to the hospital where their surgery took place. These findings might have important implications for cost-effectiveness-driven regional centralisation of surgical care. Funding None.
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