Clinical governance of patients with acute coronary syndromes

Sex-specific presentation, care, and clinical events in individuals admitted with NSTEMI: the ACVC-EAPCI EORP NSTEMI registry of the European Society of Cardiology

AIMS

Women have historically been disadvantaged in terms of care and outcomes for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). We describe patterns of presentation, care, and outcomes for NSTEMI by sex in a contemporary and geographically diverse cohort.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Prospective cohort study including 2947 patients (907 women, 2040 men) with Type I NSTEMI from 287 centres in 59 countries, stratified by sex. Quality of care was evaluated based on 12 guideline-recommended care interventions. The all-or-none scoring composite performance measure was used to define receipt of optimal care. Outcomes included acute heart failure, cardiogenic shock, repeat myocardial infarction, stroke/transient ischaemic attack, BARC Type ≥3 bleeding, or death in-hospital, as well as 30-day mortality. Women admitted with NSTEMI were older, more comorbid, and more frequently categorized as at higher ischaemic (GRACE >140, 54.0% vs. 41.7%, P < 0.001) and bleeding (CRUSADE >40, 51.7% vs. 17.6%, P < 0.001) risk than men. Women less frequently received invasive coronary angiography (ICA; 83.0% vs. 89.5%, P < 0.001), smoking cessation advice (46.4% vs. 69.5%, P < 0.001), and P2Y12 inhibitor prescription at discharge (81.9% vs. 90.0%, P < 0.001). Non-receipt of ICA was more often due to frailty for women than men (16.7% vs. 7.8%, P = 0.010). At ICA, more women than men had non-obstructive coronary artery disease or angiographically normal arteries (15.8% vs. 6.3%, P < 0.001). Rates of in-hospital adverse outcomes and 30-day mortality were low and did not differ by sex.

CONCLUSION

In contemporary practice, women presenting with NSTEMI, compared with men, less frequently receive antiplatelet prescription, smoking cessation advice, or are considered eligible for ICA.

Quality control to improve LDL-cholesterol management in patients with acute coronary syndromes based on the ACS EuroPath IV project

AIMS

We performed quality control of lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), with a view to proposing corrective actions.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Using a Define Measure Analysis Improve Control (DMAIC) approach applied to data from the ACS EuroPath IV survey, we measured attainment of two quality indicators (QIs) related to lipid-lowering treatment: (i) prescription of high-intensity statins (or equipotent treatment) before discharge, and (ii) proportion with LDL-cholesterol <55 mg/dL (1.4 mmol/L) during follow-up. A total of 530 European cardiologists responded and provided data for up to 5 patients from their centre, for acute and follow-up phases. Corrective measures are proposed to increase the rate of attainment of both QIs. Attainment of the first QI was measured in 929 acute-phase patients, 99% had LLT prescribed at discharge and 75% of patients fulfilled the first QI. Attainment of the second QI was assessed in 1721 patients with follow-up. The second QI was reached in 31% of patients. The DMAIC approach yielded 10 potential changes in prescription, 3 for the first and 7 for the second QI. The overall strategy is 'Fire to Target', i.e. early intensification of the LLT using statins, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid, and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type-9 inhibitors, and is presented as an algorithm for routine application.

CONCLUSION

Quality control for LLT, based on the ACS EuroPath IV survey, detected 10 potential changes in prescription that could enhance attainment of 2 QIs. Whether the Fire to Target strategy will be adopted and effective needs to be assessed in further steps of the EuroPath Quality programme.

Antiplatelet Strategies for Older Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes: Finding Directions in a Low-Evidence Field

Patients ≥ 75 years of age account for about one third of hospitalizations for acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Since the latest European Society of Cardiology guidelines recommend that older ACS patients use the same diagnostic and interventional strategies used by the younger ones, most elderly patients are currently treated invasively. Therefore, an appropriate dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is indicated as part of the secondary prevention strategy to be implemented in such patients. The choice of the composition and duration of DAPT should be tailored on an individual basis, after careful assessment of the thrombotic and bleeding risk of each patient. Advanced age is a main risk factor for bleeding. Recent data show that in patients of high bleeding risk short DAPT (1 to 3 months) is associated with decreased bleeding complications and similar thrombotic events, as compared to standard 12-month DAPT. Clopidogrel seems the preferable P2Y12 inhibitor, due to a better safety profile than ticagrelor. When the bleeding risk is associated with a high thrombotic risk (a circumstance present in about two thirds of older ACS patients) it is important to tailor the treatment by taking into account the fact that the thrombotic risk is high during the first months after the index event and then wanes gradually over time, whereas the bleeding risk remains constant. Under these circumstances, a de-escalation strategy seems reasonable, starting with DAPT that includes aspirin and low-dose prasugrel (a more potent and reliable P2Y12 inhibitor than clopidogrel) then switching after 2-3 months to DAPT with aspirin and clopidogrel for up to 12 months.

Nurses' Perception of, and Barriers to, Delivering Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation for Heart Failure Patients: A National Survey in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

Heart failure (HF) patients require a holistic management approach to improve their clinical outcomes. Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation (CR) is a core component of HF patients' management and is supervised by a multidisciplinary team including nurses. Nursing attitudes regarding CR delivery for patients with HF and the possible barriers and factors that potentially affect referral have not been explored. Therefore, this study seeks to evaluate nurses' attitudes towards the delivery of CR programs and the possible barriers and factors that potentially influence the decision for a referral.

METHODS

An online survey with eight multiple-choice items was disseminated to all nurses between February and July 2022 in Saudi Arabia. The characteristics of the respondents were described using descriptive statistics. Percentages and frequencies were used to report categorical variables.

RESULTS

Overall, 1056 nurses completed the online survey, of which 395 (37.40%) were male. Out of 1056 nurses, 414 (39.20%) strongly agreed that CR would improve patients' physical fitness, and 392 (37.10%) strongly agreed that CR would reduce breathlessness in patients with HF. In total, 381 nurses strongly agreed (36.10%) that CR would improve HF patients' palpitation and fatigue. Out of 1056 nurses, 396 (37.50%) strongly agreed that CR would improve HF patients' ability to perform daily activities, and 326 (30.90%) strongly agreed that CPR would reduce the rate of hospital readmission. The at-home program was the preferred mode of delivering CR programs among 607 (57.50%) nurses. Apart from the exercise component, symptom management was perceived by 704 (66.70%) nurses as the fundamental component of CR programs. The most common patient-related factor that strongly affected the decisions regarding referral was "mobility affected by breathlessness" (57%). A lack of CR centers (46%) was the most common barrier.

CONCLUSION

Nurses perceived CR as an effective management strategy for HF patients. Although a home-based program, with symptom management being an essential component, in addition to the exercise component, was perceived as the preferred mode of delivery, CR centers are lacking, which represented a significant barrier to CR referral from the nurses' perspective.