Who doesn't receive carotid endarterectomy when appropriate?

Gender, racial and ethnic disparities in index hospitalization operations for symptomatic carotid stenosis in Texas hospitals

BACKGROUND

Recent literature and societal recommendations support early revascularization of symptomatic carotid patients over the traditional six-week period. Nonetheless, the timing of these interventions can vary widely among populations. The goal of this study is to identify any factors influencing carotid revascularization during the index hospitalization for patients with symptomatic disease.

METHODS

The Texas Department of State Health Services database was queried to identify all patients > 45 years old admitted to nonfederal Texas Hospitals between 2009 to 2013 with an admission diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis and either transient ischemic attack (TIA), cerebrovascular accident (CVA), or amaurosis fugax. Diagnoses codes and demographic data were also used to adjust for clinical, social, and demographic factors (including area of residence and treatment). Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify significant factors for index admission revascularization.

RESULTS

A total of 29,046 symptomatic patients were identified among the 153,484 patients who had an eligible admission diagnosis. This included 16,244 (55.9%) males and 12,802 (44.1%) females. Only 4,594 (15.8%) patients were revascularized during the index hospitalization. The majority of these patients presented with amaurosis (OR 5.58; 95% CI 4.84-6.44) instead of CVAs (OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.45-0.51) or TIAs . Adjusting for hospital volume, insurance coverage, residence, and other clinical factors, rates of index admission carotid intervention remained significantly lower for women (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.79-0.91), persons categorized as black (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.53-0.69), and persons categorized as Hispanic (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.70-0.86).

CONCLUSIONS

Gender, race and ethnicity appear to correlate with rates of carotid intervention at index hospitalization despite thorough risk adjustment for clinical, social and demographic factors. Efforts should be directed towards reducing these disparities.

Race as a predictor of delay from diagnosis to endarterectomy in clinically significant carotid stenosis

OBJECTIVE

Prompt carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in clinically significant carotid stenosis is important in the prevention of neurologic sequelae. The greatest benefit from surgery is obtained by prompt revascularization on diagnosis. It has been demonstrated that black patients both receive CEA less frequently than white patients do and experience worse postoperative outcomes. We sought to test our hypothesis that black race is an independent risk factor for a prolonged time from sonographic diagnosis of carotid stenosis warranting surgery to the day of operation (TDO).

METHODS

From 1998 to 2013 at a single institution, 166 CEA patients were retrospectively reviewed using Synthetic Derivative, a de-identified electronic medical record. Factors potentially affecting TDO, including demographics, preoperative cardiac stress testing, degree of stenosis, smoking status, and comorbidities, were noted. Multivariate analysis was performed on variables that trended with prolonged TDO on univariate analysis (P < .10) to determine independent (P < .05) predictors of TDO. Subgroup analyses were further performed on the symptomatic and asymptomatic stenosis cohorts.

RESULTS

There were 32 black patients and 134 white patients studied; the mean TDO was 78 ± 17 days vs 33 ± 3 days, respectively (P < .001). In addition to the need for preoperative cardiac stress testing, black race was the only variable that demonstrated a trend with (P < .10) or was an independent risk factor for (P < .05) prolonged TDO among all patients (B = 42 days; P < .001) and within the symptomatic (B = 35 days; P = .08) and asymptomatic (B = 35 days; P = .003) cohorts. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, black patients in each stratum of symptomatology (all, symptomatic, and asymptomatic patients) experienced prolonged TDO (log-rank, P < .03 for all three groups).

CONCLUSIONS

Black race is a risk factor for a temporal delay in CEA for carotid stenosis. Awareness of this disparity may help surgeons avoid undesirable delays in operation for their black patients.

Comparing the use of diagnostic imaging and receipt of carotid endarterectomy in elderly black and white stroke patients

BACKGROUND

Previous studies show that black patients undergo carotid endarterectomy (CEA) less frequently than white patients. Diagnostic imaging is necessary to determine whether a patient is a candidate for the operation. We determined whether there were differences in the use of diagnostic carotid imaging and the frequency of CEA between elderly black and white ischemic stroke patients.

METHODS

Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with discharge diagnoses of ischemic stroke (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision codes 433, 434, and 436) were randomly selected for inclusion in the National Stroke Project 1998-1999, 2000-2001. Receipt of at least one type of carotid imaging study was compared for black and white patients. Binomial logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between race and receipt of carotid imaging and CEA with adjustment for demographics, degree of carotid artery stenosis, and other clinical covariates.

RESULTS

Among 19,639 stroke patients (1974 black, 17,655 white), 69.6% received at least 1 diagnostic carotid imaging test (blacks 68.4%; whites 69.7%; P = .233). After risk adjustment, blacks were less likely to receive carotid imaging (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.97). There was no relationship between race and the receipt of CEA after adjustment for degree of carotid stenosis and other covariates (adjusted OR 1.14; 95% CI 0.66-1.96).

CONCLUSIONS

Black ischemic stroke patients were less likely to receive diagnostic carotid imaging than white patients, although the difference was small and only significant after risk adjustment. There was no difference in the proportion having CEA after adjustment for degree of carotid artery stenosis and other clinical factors.

Factors associated with a provider's recommendation of carotid endarterectomy: implications for understanding disparities in the use of invasive procedures

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed the relative importance of clinical and nonclinical factors in a provider's decision to recommend carotid endarterectomy (CEA) for a patient, with emphasis on the role of the patient's race in the provider's assessment of the risks and benefits of the procedure.

METHODS

The study was a secondary analysis of data on the use of CEA conducted in a patient sample of 355 white and black patients who were referred for evaluation for CEA and were adjudicated preoperatively as appropriate candidates for the procedure by objective criteria. The patients were from five VA medical centers nationally. The primary outcome was the provider's recommendation that the patient receive CEA. Patient factors included age, race, the degree of carotid artery stenosis, clinical status, trust in the provider, and aversion to surgery. Provider factors were assessment of the patient's risks and benefits from CEA, including perceived efficacy of the surgery, perceived risk of stroke < or =1 year without the surgery, and perceived risk of stroke < or =30 days from the surgery.

RESULTS

The primary factor associated with a provider's decision to recommend CEA was his or her assessment of the patient's risk of stroke without the surgery. The patient's race was not associated with the provider's assessments of the patient's risks or benefits from CEA.

CONCLUSION

A major determinant of a provider's recommendation for a patient to receive CEA endarterectomy is the assessment of the patient's likely future risk of stroke, regardless of the patient's race.

Patient risk perceptions for carotid endarterectomy: which patients are strongly averse to surgery?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Patient risk perception for surgery may be central to their willingness to undergo surgery. This study examined potential factors associated with patient aversion of surgery.

METHODS

This is a secondary data analysis of a prospective cohort study that examined patients referred for evaluation of carotid artery stenosis at five Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. The study collected demographic, clinical, and psychosocial information related to surgery. This analysis focused on patient response to a question assessing their aversion to surgery.

RESULTS

Among the 1065 individuals, at the time of evaluation for carotid endarterectomy (CEA), 66% of patients had no symptoms, 16% had a transient ischemic attack, and 18% had stroke. Twelve percent of patients referred for CEA evaluation were averse to surgery. In adjusted analyses, increased age, black race, no previous surgery, lower level of chance locus of control, less trust of physicians, and less social support were significantly related to greater likelihood of surgery aversion among individuals referred for CEA evaluation. Patient degree of medical comorbidity and a validated measure of preoperative risk score were not associated with increased aversion to surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

In previous work, aversion to CEA was associated with lack of receipt of CEA even after accounting for patient clinical appropriateness for surgery. We identified important patient characteristics associated with aversion to CEA. Interventions designed to assist patient decision making should focus on these more complex factors related to CEA aversion rather than the simple explanation of clinical usefulness.