Frailty as a predictor of outcomes for patients undergoing carotid artery stenting

A systematic review of frailty assessment tools used in vascular surgery research

OBJECTIVE

Frailty is common in vascular patients and is recognized for its prognostic value. In the absence of consensus, a multitude of frailty assessment tools exist. This systematic review aimed to quantify the variety in these tools and describe their content and application to inform future research and clinical practice.

METHODS

Multiple cross-disciplinary electronic literature databases were searched from inception to August 2022. Studies describing frailty assessment in a vascular surgical population were eligible. Data extraction to a validated template included patient demographics, tool content, and analysis methods. A secondary systematic search for papers describing the psychometric properties of commonly used frailty tools was then performed.

RESULTS

Screening 5358 records identified 111 eligible studies, with an aggregate population of 5,418,236 patients. Forty-three differing frailty assessment tools were identified. One-third of these failed to assess frailty as a multidomain deficit and there was a reliance on assessing function and presence of comorbidity. Substantial methodological variability in data analysis and lack of methodological description was also identified. Published psychometric assessment was available for only 4 of the 10 most commonly used frailty tools. The Clinical Frailty Scale was the most studied and demonstrates good psychometric properties within a surgical population.

CONCLUSIONS

Substantial heterogeneity in frailty assessment is demonstrated, precluding meaningful comparisons of services and data pooling. A uniform approach to assessment is required to guide future frailty research. Based on the literature, we make the following recommendations: frailty should be considered a continuous construct and the reporting of frailty tools' application needs standardized. In the absence of consensus, the Clinical Frailty Scale is a validated tool with good psychometric properties that demonstrates usefulness in vascular surgery.

Combined assessment of frailty and nutritional status can be a prognostic indicator after percutaneous coronary intervention

The cardiac prognosis of patients with frailty and malnutrition remains poorly investigated. This study aimed to investigate the impact of frailty and malnutrition on cardiac prognosis by combining the clinical frailty scale (CFS) and the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In this study, 608 patients who underwent PCI for stable angina pectoris between January 2018 and December 2020 were included. CFS scores of ≥ 4 were defined as high CFS and patients with these scores were considered frail. GNRI scores of ≤ 98.0 were defined as low GNRI and patients with these scores were considered to have malnutrition. Patients were categorized into low-risk (n = 267, low CFS and high GNRI), intermediate-risk (n = 200, high CFS or low GNRI), and high-risk (n = 141, high CFS and low GNRI) groups. Major adverse clinical events (MACEs), including all-cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, revascularization, hospitalization for heart failure, and stroke, were assessed. The median follow-up period was 529 days. During the follow-up, MACEs were found in 135 patients. The high-risk group were older (77.0 ± 9.2 vs 71.4 ± 10.7 vs 65.0 ± 10.1 years, p < 0.001), had higher prevalence rates of chronic kidney disease [61.7% (87/141) vs 37.5% (75/200) vs 16.9% (45/267); p < 0.001] and heart failure [47.5% (67/141) vs 22.5% (45/200) vs 12.4% (33/267), p < 0.001], and had higher C-reactive protein levels (1.64 ± 2.66 vs 1.00 ± 2.02 vs 0.34 ± 0.90 mg/dL; p < 0.001) than the intermediate-risk and low-risk groups. The high-risk group [hazard ratio (HR), 4.39; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.87-6.72; p < 0.001] was an independent predictor of MACEs. In conclusion, patients with both frailty and malnutrition had a higher risk of MACEs after PCI than patients with frailty or malnutrition. Post-PCI patients should be evaluated for combined frailty and malnutrition.

Impact of Frailty on Postoperative Outcomes in Patients undergoing TransCarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR)

BACKGROUND

Frailty is a clinical syndrome characterized by reduction in metabolic reserves leading to increased susceptibility to adverse outcomes following invasive surgical interventions. The 5-item modified frailty index (mFI-5) validated in prior studies has shown high predictive accuracy for all surgical specialties including vascular procedures. In this study we aim to utilize the mFI-5 to predict outcomes in Transcarotid Revascularization (TCAR).

METHODS

All patient who underwent TCAR from November 2016 to April 2021 in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) Database were included. The mFI-5 was calculated as a cumulative score divided by 5 with 1 point each for poor functional status, presence of diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), and hypertension. Patients were stratified into two groups based on prior studies: low mFI-5 (0.6) and high (≥0.6). Primary outcomes included in-hospital death, extended length of postoperative stay (> 1 day), and non-home discharge. Secondary outcomes included in-hospital stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), myocardial infarction (MI), and composite endpoint of stroke/death, stroke/TIA and stroke/death/MI. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression were used to assess the association between mFI-5 and postoperative outcomes. Secondary analysis stratified by symptomatic status was performed.

RESULTS

Out of the 17,983 patients who underwent TCAR, 4526(25.2%) had mFI-5 score of ≥0.6 and considered clinically frail. Compared to the non-frail group, frail patients were more likely to be female (38.7% vs 35.6%, p<0.001), have poor functional status (43.6 vs 8.3%, p<0.001), and present with significant comorbidities including diabetes (75.3% vs 26.1%, p<0.001), hypertension (98.9% vs 88.5%, p<0.001), CHF (52.2% vs 5.6, p<0.001), and COPD (60.3% vs 14.2%, p<0.001). They were also more likely to be active smokers (25.4% vs 20.4%, p<0.001) and symptomatic prior to intervention (28.7% vs 25.3%, p<0.001). On univariate analysis, frail patients were at significantly higher risk to experience adverse outcomes including in-hospital mortality, TIA, MI, stroke/death, stroke/TIA, stroke/death/MI, discharge to non-home facility, and extended LOS. After adjusting for potential confounders, frail patients remained at significantly higher risk of in-hospital mortality [aOR 2.26(1.41,3.61), p=0.001], TIA [aOR 1.65(1.08, 2.54), p=0.040], non-home discharge [aOR 1.99(1.71,2.32) p<0.001], and extended LOS [aOR 1.41(1.27, 1.55) p<0.001]. On further stratified analysis based on symptomatic status, the increased risk of stroke/death, TIA, and death was observed only in symptomatic patients.

CONCLUSION

Modified Frailty Index is a reliable tool that can be used to identify high risk patients for TCAR prior to intervention. This could help vascular surgeons, patients, and families in informed decision making to further optimize perioperative care and medical management in frail patients.