Hospital Utilization in Adults with Single Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease and Cardiac Arrhythmias

The Appraisal of Adults with Congenital Heart Disease: Lesson from Comparison of Surgical Outcomes

The population of adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) is constantly growing. There seems to be a consensus that these patients are difficult to manage especially if compared to patients with acquired heart disease. The aim of this study is to compare outcomes and results of cardiac surgery in ACHD patients with a reference population of adults with acquired cardiac disease. Retrospective study of 5053 consecutive patients older than 18 years hospitalized for cardiac surgery during a 5-years period in our Institution. Two groups of patients were identified. Group I: 419 patients operated for congenital heart disease; Group II: 4634 patients operated for acquired heart disease. In each Group were identified low, medium, and high-risk patients, according to validated scores. Right ventricular outflow tract surgery was the most frequent procedure in Group I, while coronary artery by-pass grafting was the most common in Group II. Patients with ACHD were younger (37.8 vs. 67.7 years), with higher number of previous operations (32.1% vs. 6.9%), had longer post-ICU hospital stay (11 vs. 8 days) but had lower ICU stay (1 vs. 2 days), shorter assisted mechanical ventilation (12 vs. 14 h) and lower surgical mortality (1 vs. 3.7%) (all p < 0.001). No differences were found in term of post-operative complications (12.4 vs. 15%). The surgical treatment of ACHD patients can be done with excellent results and if compared with acquired cardiac disease patients they have better results with shorter ICU stay and lower mortality.

Five decades of Fontan palliation: What have we learned? What should we expect?

The Fontan procedure is the final palliative surgery in a series of staged surgeries to reroute the systemic venous blood flow directly to the lungs, with the ventricle(s) pumping oxygenated blood to the body. Advances in medical and surgical techniques have improved patients' overall survival after the Fontan procedure. However, Fontan-associated chronic comorbidities are common. In addition to chronic cardiac dysfunction and arrhythmias, complications involving other organs such as the liver, lungs, intestine, lymphatic system, brain, and blood frequently occur. This narrative review focuses on the immediate and late consequences in children, pregnant women, and other adults with Fontan circulation. In addition, we describe the technical advancements that might change the way single-ventricle patients are managed in future.

Evaluation and Management of the Child and Adult With Fontan Circulation: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

It has been 50 years since Francis Fontan pioneered the operation that today bears his name. Initially designed for patients with tricuspid atresia, this procedure is now offered for a vast array of congenital cardiac lesions when a circulation with 2 ventricles cannot be achieved. As a result of technical advances and improvements in patient selection and perioperative management, survival has steadily increased, and it is estimated that patients operated on today may hope for a 30-year survival of >80%. Up to 70 000 patients may be alive worldwide today with Fontan circulation, and this population is expected to double in the next 20 years. In the absence of a subpulmonary ventricle, Fontan circulation is characterized by chronically elevated systemic venous pressures and decreased cardiac output. The addition of this acquired abnormal circulation to innate abnormalities associated with single-ventricle congenital heart disease exposes these patients to a variety of complications. Circulatory failure, ventricular dysfunction, atrioventricular valve regurgitation, arrhythmia, protein-losing enteropathy, and plastic bronchitis are potential complications of the Fontan circulation. Abnormalities in body composition, bone structure, and growth have been detected. Liver fibrosis and renal dysfunction are common and may progress over time. Cognitive, neuropsychological, and behavioral deficits are highly prevalent. As a testimony to the success of the current strategy of care, the proportion of adults with Fontan circulation is increasing. Healthcare providers are ill-prepared to tackle these challenges, as well as specific needs such as contraception and pregnancy in female patients. The role of therapies such as cardiovascular drugs to prevent and treat complications, heart transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support remains undetermined. There is a clear need for consensus on how best to follow up patients with Fontan circulation and to treat their complications. This American Heart Association statement summarizes the current state of knowledge on the Fontan circulation and its consequences. A proposed surveillance testing toolkit provides recommendations for a range of acceptable approaches to follow-up care for the patient with Fontan circulation. Gaps in knowledge and areas for future focus of investigation are highlighted, with the objective of laying the groundwork for creating a normal quality and duration of life for these unique individuals.

Predictors of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support after surgery for adult congenital heart disease in children's hospitals

OBJECTIVE

Adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients who undergo cardiac surgery are at risk for poor outcomes, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (ECMO) and death. Prior studies have demonstrated risk factors for mortality, but have not fully examined risk factors for ECMO or death without ECMO (DWE). We sought to identify risk factors for ECMO and DWE in adults undergoing congenital heart surgery in tertiary care children's hospitals.

DESIGN

All adults (≥18 years) undergoing congenital heart surgery in the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database between 2003 and 2014 were included. Patients were classified into three groups: ECMO-free survival, requiring ECMO, and DWE. Univariate analyses were performed, and multinomial logistic regression models were constructed examining ECMO and DWE as independent outcomes.

SETTING

Tertiary care children's hospitals.

RESULTS

A total of 4665 adult patients underwent ACHD surgery in 39 children's hospitals with 51 (1.1%) patients requiring ECMO and 64 (1.4%) patients experiencing DWE. Of the 51 ECMO patients, 34 (67%) died. Increasing patient age, surgical complexity, diagnosis of single ventricle heart disease, preoperative hospitalization, and the presence of noncardiac complex chronic conditions (CCC) were risk factors for both outcomes. Additionally, low and medium hospital ACHD surgical volume was associated with an increased risk of DWE in comparison with ECMO.

CONCLUSIONS

There are overlapping but separate risk factors for ECMO support and DWE among adults undergoing congenital heart surgery in pediatric hospitals.

Resource Utilization Among Adult Congenital Heart Failure Admissions in Pediatric Hospitals

We sought to analyze the trends and resource utilization of adult congenital heart disease (ACHD)-related heart failure admissions at children's hospitals. Heart failure admissions in patients with ACHD continue to rise at both pediatric and adult care facilities. Data from the Pediatric Health Information Systems database (2005 to 2015) were used to identify patients (≥18 years) admitted with congenital heart disease (745.xx-747.xx) and principal diagnosis of heart failure (428.xx). High resource use (HRU) admissions were defined as those over the 90th percentile. There were 562 admissions (55.9% male) across 39 pediatric hospitals. ACHD-related heart failure admissions increased from 4.1% in 2006 to 6.3% in 2015 (p = 0.015). Median hospital charge for ACHD-related heart failure admissions was $59,055 [IQR $26,633 to $156,846]. Total charges increased with more complex anatomic category (p = 0.049). Though HRU admissions represented 10% of ACHD-related heart failure admissions, they accounted for >66% of the total charges. The median total hospital charges for HRU admissions were $1,018,656 [IQR $722,574 to $1,784,743], compared with $58,890 [IQR $26,456 to $145,890] for non-HRU admissions (p < 0.001). Inpatient mortality rate (26.3% vs 4.0%) and the presence of ≥2 comorbidities (68% vs 31%) were higher for HRU admissions (p < 0.001). On multivariable analysis, technology dependence (aOR: 4.4, p < 0.001) and renal comorbidities (aOR: 3.0, p = 0.04) were associated with HRU. In conclusion, heart failure-related ACHD admissions in pediatric hospitals are increasing. Compared with non-HRU, HRU admissions had higher inhospital mortality and greater comorbidities. Additional care strategies to reduce resource use among these patients and improve overall quality of care merits further study.

State of the art of the Fontan strategy for treatment of univentricular heart disease

In patients with a functionally univentricular heart, the Fontan strategy achieves separation of the systemic and pulmonary circulation and reduction of ventricular volume overload. Contemporary modifications of surgical techniques have significantly improved survival. However, the resulting Fontan physiology is associated with high morbidity. In this review, we discuss the state of the art of the Fontan strategy by assessing survival and risk factors for mortality. Complications of the Fontan circulation, such as cardiac arrhythmia, thromboembolism, and protein-losing enteropathy, are discussed. Common surgical and catheter-based interventions following Fontan completion are outlined. We describe functional status measurements such as quality of life and developmental outcomes in the contemporary Fontan patient. The current role of drug therapy in the Fontan patient is explored. Furthermore, we assess the current use and outcomes of mechanical circulatory support in the Fontan circulation and novel surgical innovations. Despite large improvements in outcomes for contemporary Fontan patients, a large burden of disease exists in this patient population. Continued efforts to improve outcomes are warranted. Several remaining challenges in the Fontan field are outlined.

Administrative health databases for addressing emerging issues in adults with CHD: a systematic review

The need for population-based studies of adults with CHD has motivated the growing use of secondary analyses of administrative health data in a variety of jurisdictions worldwide. We aimed at systematically reviewing all studies using administrative health data sources for adult CHD research from 2006 to 2016. Using PubMed and Embase (1 January, 2006 to 1 January, 2016), we identified 2217 abstracts, from which 59 studies were included in this review. These comprised 12 different data sources from six countries. Of these, 55% originated in the United States of America, 28% in Canada, and 17% in Europe and Asia. No study was published before 2007, after which the number of publications grew exponentially. In all, 41% of the studies were cross-sectional and 25% were retrospective cohort studies with a wide variation in the availability of patient-level compared with hospitalisation-level episodes of care; 58% of studies from eight different data sources linked administrative data at a patient level; and 37% of studies reported validation procedures. Assessing resource utilisation and temporal trends of relevant epidemiological and outcome end points were the most reported objectives. The median impact factor of publication journals was 4.04, with an interquartile range of 3.15, 7.44. Although not designed for research purposes, administrative health databases have become powerful data sources for studying adult CHD populations because of their large sample sizes, comprehensive records, and long observation periods, providing a useful tool to further develop quality of care improvement programmes. Data linkage with electronic records will become important in obtaining more granular life-long adult CHD data. The health services nature of the data optimises the impact on policy and public health.

Higher Cost of Hospitalizations for Non-cardiac Diagnoses in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease

Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are a rapidly increasing population and their impact on healthcare resources is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to describe the costs of hospitalizations for non-cardiac disease for adults with CHD. We conducted a retrospective review of hospital discharge data from the University HealthSystem Consortium Clinical Data Base/Resource Manager from January 2011 through December 2013. Patients were ≥ 18 years old at admission with any ICD-9 code for moderate or high severity CHD; cardiac surgical admissions were excluded. The comparison group consisted of patients ≥ 18 years old with no ICD-9 codes for any severity CHD. There were 9,169,700 non-CHD, 28,224 moderate CHD, and 3045 high severity CHD hospital admissions. Total length of stay was longer for acute kidney injury, depressive disorder, esophageal reflux, and obstructive sleep apnea for any severity CHD; ICU admission rates were higher for all diagnoses with any severity CHD. Mean observed direct costs were higher for all diagnoses for moderate CHD and all diagnoses except dehydration, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and obstructive sleep apnea for high severity CHD. This review identified significantly increased hospitalization costs for adults with moderate and high severity CHD who are admitted for non-cardiac medical conditions not associated with concomitant cardiac surgical procedures. Admissions with CHD diagnoses had higher ICU admission rates, longer lengths of stay, and higher mortality for most non-cardiac admission diagnoses. These data will add to our understanding of the economic impact of adults with CHD.

Outcomes and Costs of Cardiac Surgery in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease

Advances in pediatric cardiac surgical and medical care have led to increased survival of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Consequently, many CHD patients survive long enough to require cardiac surgery as adults. Using the 2013 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, we compared costs and outcomes for adult patients undergoing surgery for treatment of CHD to a reference population of adults undergoing CABG. Patients were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9 CM) procedure codes. We recorded the demographic characteristics, gender, ethnicity, hospital bed size, hospital length of stay, in-hospital mortality, and comorbidities. Patients with ACHD have higher incidences of in-hospital mortality (2.6 vs. 1.8%), and complication rates including neurologic complications (2.6 vs. 0.9%), thromboembolic complications (3.9 vs. 1.4%), arrhythmias (51.6 vs. 29.8%), hepatic failure (4.44 vs. 2.03%), and sepsis (7.24 vs. 4.61%) (all p < 0.001). In addition, cost is higher in patients with CHD (Coefficient = 0.116, 95% CI, 0.105-0.128; p < 0.001), Elixhauser score ≥ 7 (Coefficient = 0.114, 95% CI, 0.108-0.121; p < 0.001), neurologic complications (Coefficient = 0.169, 95% CI, 0.143-0.196; p < 0.001), thrombotic complications (Coefficient = 0.243, 95% CI, 0.222-0.265; p < 0.001), sepsis (Coefficient = 0.198, 95% CI, 0.185-0.211; p < 0.001), acute kidney injury (Coefficient = 0.056, 95% CI, 0.041-0.063; p < 0.001), elective cases (Coefficient = 0.047, 95% CI, 0.041-0.053; p < 0.001), and length of stay > 6 days (Coefficient = 0.703, 95% CI, 0.697-0.710; p < 0.001). This study shows that ACHD patients undergoing cardiac surgery experience higher hospital costs and poorer outcomes than a reference population of adult CABG patients. Recognition and treatment of comorbidities in ACHD patients undergoing cardiac surgery may provide an opportunity to improve perioperative outcomes in this growing patient population.

[Arrhythmia in adults with congenital heart defects : Incidence, substrates, and mechanisms]

Arrhythmia management is one of the main challenges in the treatment of adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD). Apart from heart failure, arrhythmias are mainly responsible for morbidity and mortality in these patients. Supraventricular tachycardia is more frequent than ventricular arrhythmias and is not only associated with debilitating symptoms, but is often as threatening as ventricular tachycardia. The incidence depends on the underlying defect, type, and time of repair. For the overall ACHD population the incidence of supraventricular tachycardia is up to 50 % and increases with age and time since surgery. Arrhythmia substrate relates to structural abnormalities due to the congenital defect and most importantly to the amount of incisions and material used for repair. In addition, poor hemodynamic conditions influence substrate through dilatation, hypertrophy, and fibrosis. Both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias are due to a macroreentrant mechanism in the vast majority of patients, but focal arrhythmias occasionally occur as well.

Resource Utilization for Noncardiac Admissions in Pediatric Patients With Single Ventricle Disease

Patients with single ventricle (SV) congenital heart disease (CHD) incur high hospital costs during staged surgical palliation. Health care resource utilization for noncardiac admissions in patients with SV has not been reported. This study sought to compare costs and outcomes for common noncardiac hospital admissions between patients with SV and patients without CHD. Hospital discharge data from the University Health System Consortium from January 2011 to December 2013 was queried for patients aged ≤18 years with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes for SV lesions: hypoplastic left heart syndrome (746.7), tricuspid atresia (746.1), or common ventricle (745.3). Primary diagnosis, direct cost, length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit admission rate and mortality data were obtained. The 10 most common noncardiac admission diagnoses were compared between patients with SV and patients without CHD using t test and Fisher's exact test. Total direct cost, LOS, and intensive care unit admission rate were higher for patients with SV for all diagnoses with the exception of LOS for dehydration, which was not different between groups. Hospital mortality was significantly higher for patients with SV admitted for acute kidney injury, esophageal reflux, failure to thrive, respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis and pneumonia. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that patients with SV CHD admitted with noncardiac diagnoses have higher health care resource utilization compared to those without CHD. As long-term survival increases, it can be expected that this patient group will use a disproportionate amount of medical dollars. Further characterization of costs will be important so steps can be taken to reduce or prevent hospitalization in these patients.

Hospital Resource Utilization for Common Noncardiac Diagnoses in Adult Survivors of Single Cardiac Ventricle

Single ventricle congenital heart disease (SV CHD) has transformed from a nearly universally fatal condition to a chronic illness. As the number of adults living with SV CHD continues to increase, there needs to be an understanding of health care resource utilization (HCRU), particularly for noncardiac conditions, for this patient population. We performed a retrospective database review of the University HealthSystem Consortium Clinical Database/Resource Manager for adult patients with SV CHD hospitalized for noncardiac conditions from January 2011 to November 2014. Patients with SV CHD were identified using International Classification of Disease (ICD)-9 codes associated with SV CHD (hypoplastic left heart, tricuspid atresia, and SV) and stratified into 2 groups by age (18 to 29 years and 30 to 40 years). Direct cost, length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission rate and mortality data were compared with age-matched patients without CHD. There were 2,083,651 non-CHD and 590 SV CHD admissions in Group 1 and 2,131,046 non-CHD and 297 SV CHD admissions in Group 2. There was no difference in LOS in Group 1, but there were higher costs for several diagnoses. LOS and costs were higher for several diagnoses in Group 2. ICU admission rate and in-hospital mortality were higher for several diagnoses for patients with SV CHD in both groups. In conclusion, adults with SV CHD admitted for noncardiac diagnoses have higher HCRU (longer LOS and higher ICU admission rates) compared with similarly aged patients without CHD. These findings stress the importance of good primary care in this population with complex, chronic cardiac disease to prevent hospitalizations and higher HCRU.