Adequate enrollment of women in cardiovascular drug trials and the need for sex-specific assessment and reporting

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for women in the United States and globally. There is an abundance of evidence-based trials evaluating the efficacy of drug therapies to reduce morbidity and mortality in CVD. Additionally, there are well-established influences of sex, through a variety of mechanisms, on pharmacologic treatments in CVD. Despite this, the majority of drug trials are not powered to evaluate sex-specific outcomes, and much of the data that exists is gathered post hoc and through meta-analysis. The FDA established a committee in 1993 to increase the enrollment of women in clinical trials to improve this situation. Several authors, reviewing committees, and professional societies have highlighted the importance of sex-specific analysis and reporting. Despite these statements, there has not been a major improvement in representation or reporting. There are ongoing efforts to assess trial design, female representation on steering committees, and clinical trial processes to improve the representation of women. This review will describe the pharmacologic basis for the need for sex-specific assessment of cardiovascular drug therapies. It will also review the sex-specific reporting of landmark drug trials in hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), hyperlipidemia, and heart failure (HF). In reporting enrollment of women, several therapeutic areas like antihypertensives and newer anticoagulation trials fare better than therapeutics for HF and acute coronary syndromes. Further, drug trials and cardiometabolic or lifestyle intervention trials had a higher percentage of female participants than the device or procedural trials.

Same day discharge following non-elective PCI for non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Timing of discharge after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a crucial aspect of procedural safety and patient turnover. We examined predictors and outcomes of same-day discharge (SDD) after non-elective PCI for non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) in comparison with next-day discharge (NDD).

METHODS

Baseline demographic, clinical, and procedural data were collected as were in-hospital outcomes and post-PCI length of stay (LOS) for all patients undergoing non-elective PCI for NSTE-ACS between 2011 and 2014 at a central tertiary care center. Thirty day and 1-year mortality and bleeding as well as 30-day readmission rates were determined from social security record and medical chart review. Logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of SDD, and propensity-matched analysis was done to examine the differences in outcomes between NDD and SDD.

RESULTS

Out of 2,529 patients who underwent non-elective PCI for NSTE-ACS from 2011 to 2014, 1,385 met the inclusion criteria (mean age = 63 years; 26% women) and were discharged either the same day of (N = 300) or the day after (N = 1,085) PCI. Thirty-day and one-year mortality and major bleeding rates were similar between the 2 groups. Logistic regression identified male sex, radial access, negative troponin biomarker status, and procedure start time as predictors of SDD. In propensity-matched analyses, there was no difference in 30-day mortality and readmission between SDD and NDD groups.

CONCLUSIONS

SDD after non-elective PCI for NSTE-ACS may be a reasonable alternative to NDD for selected low-risk patients with comparable mortality, bleeding, and readmission rates.

Developing a curriculum to improve cardiology fellows' training in pregnancy and cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND

Exposure to pregnant women with cardiovascular disease (CVD) during cardiology fellowship training is limited and without a standard curriculum in the United States. The authors sought to evaluate a dedicated curriculum to teach management of CVD in pregnancy to improve general cardiology fellowship training.

METHODS

The authors developed a dedicated CVD in pregnancy curriculum for the general cardiology fellows at a large academic medical center in the fall of 2019. Fellows' knowledge was assessed via a board-style examination and exposure and attitudes related to the care of pregnant women with CVD were evaluated with a needs assessment questionnaire before and after the curriculum.

RESULTS

Of the 17 fellows who participated in the curriculum, 12 completed the needs assessment pre-curriculum and 9 post-curriculum. The mean (SD) number of pregnant women with CVD cared for by each fellow in the inpatient and outpatient settings were 0.75 (1.29) and 0.56 (0.73), respectively. After the curriculum, all fellows reported awareness of available resources to treat pregnant women with CVD, while a majority disagreed that they receive regular exposure to pregnant patients with CVD in their training. The authors observed significant increases in fellows' confidence in their knowledge of normal cardiovascular physiology of pregnancy, physical exam skills, and ability to care for pregnant women with valvular disease and arrhythmias from pre to post-curriculum. A total of 15 fellows completed the board-style exam pre-curriculum and 15 post-curriculum. Fellows' performance on the board-style examination improved slightly from before to after the curriculum (64.0 to 75.3% correct, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

A dedicated curriculum improved cardiology fellows' knowledge to recognize and treat CVD in pregnancy and improved confidence in caring for this unique patient population.

Indexed Left Atrial Adipose Tissue Area Is Associated With Severity of Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Fibrillation Recurrence Among Patients Undergoing Catheter Ablation

Background: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been associated with adverse left atrial (LA) remodeling and atrial fibrillation (AF) outcomes, possibly because of paracrine signaling. Objectives: We examined factors associated with a novel measure of EAT i.e., indexed LAEAT (iLAEAT) and its prognostic significance after catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 274 participants with AF referred for CA. LAEAT area was measured from a single pre-ablation CT image and indexed to body surface area (BSA) to calculate iLAEAT. Clinical, echocardiographic data and 1-year AF recurrence rates after CA were compared across tertiles of iLAEAT. We performed logistic regression analysis adjusting for factors associated with AF to examine relations between iLAEAT and AF recurrence. Results: Mean age of participants was 61 ± 10 years, 136 (49%) were women, mean BMI was 32 ± 9 kg/m2 and 85 (31%) had persistent AF. Mean iLAEAT was 0.82 ± 0.53 cm2/m2. Over 12-months, 109 (40%) had AF recurrence. Participants in the highest iLAEAT tertile were older, had higher CHA2DS2VASC scores, more likely to be male, have greater LA volume, and were more likely to have persistent (vs. paroxysmal) type AF than participants in the lowest iLAEAT tertile (p for all < 0.05). In regression analyses, iLAEAT was associated with higher odds of AF recurrence (OR = 2.93; 95% CI 1.34-6.43). Conclusions: iLAEAT can quantify LA adipose tissue burden using standard CT images. It is strongly associated with AF risk factors and outcomes, supporting the hypothesis that EAT plays a role in the pathophysiology of AF.