Abstract
Objectives: The authors sought to investigate the incidence, predictors, and causes of 30-day nonelective readmissions after endovascular thrombectomy (EVT). Background: Randomized trials have demonstrated that EVT improves outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods: The Nationwide Readmissions Database, years 2013 and 2014, was used to identify hospitalizations for a primary diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke during which patients underwent EVT, with or without intravenous thrombolysis. The incidence and reasons of 30-day readmissions were investigated. A hierarchical Cox regression model was used to identify independent predictors of 30-day nonelective readmissions. A propensity score–matched analysis was performed to compare the risk of 30-day nonelective readmissions in those who underwent EVT versus thrombolysis alone. Results: Among 2,055,365 weighted hospitalizations with acute ischemic stroke and survival to discharge, 10,795 (0.5%) underwent EVT. The 30-day readmission rate was 12.4% within a median of 9 days (interquartile range: 4 to 18 days). Diabetes mellitus, coagulopathy, Medicare or Medicaid insurance, and gastrostomy during the index hospitalization were independent predictors of 30-day readmission, but coadministration of thrombolytics with EVT was not an independent predictor. The most common reasons for readmission were infections (17.2%), cardiac causes (17.0%), and recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack (14.8%). Compared with thrombolysis alone, the hazard of 30-day readmissions was similar (hazard ratio: 0.98; 95% confidence interval: 0.91 to 1.05; p = 0.55). Conclusions: In patients hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke who underwent EVT, 30-day nonelective readmissions were common, occurring in approximately 1 in 8 patients, but were similar to those of patients treated with thrombolysis alone. Risk of readmission was associated with certain patient demographics, comorbidities, and complications, but not thrombolysis coadministration. Infections, cardiac causes, and recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack are the most common reasons for readmission after EVT, emphasizing the need for comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment in the transition to outpatient care.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2414-2424 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 23 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 10 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Dr. Abraham has been a consultant for Stryker Neurovascular and Penumbra; and has served on the speakers bureau for Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr. Bhatt has served on the advisory boards of Cardax, Elsevier Practice Update Cardiology, Medscape Cardiology, and Regado Biosciences; has served on the board of directors of the Boston VA Research Institute, Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care, and TobeSoft; served as chair of the American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee; has served on data monitoring committees for the Baim Institute for Clinical Research (formerly Harvard Clinical Research Institute, for the PORTICO trial, funded by St. Jude Medical, now Abbott), Cleveland Clinic, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Population Health Research Institute; has received honoraria from the American College of Cardiology (senior associate editor, Clinical Trials and News, ACC.org ; Vice-Chair, ACC Accreditation Committee), Baim Institute for Clinical Research (formerly Harvard Clinical Research Institute; RE-DUAL PCI clinical trial steering committee funded by Boehringer Ingelheim), Belvoir Publications (editor in chief, Harvard Heart Letter), Duke Clinical Research Institute (clinical trial steering committees), HMP Global (editor in chief, Journal of Invasive Cardiology), Journal of the American College of Cardiology (guest editor; associate editor), Population Health Research Institute (for the COMPASS operations committee, publications committee, steering committee, and USA national coleader, funded by Bayer), Slack Publications (chief medical editor, Cardiology Today’s Intervention), Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (secretary/treasurer), WebMD (CME steering committees); has other relationships with Clinical Cardiology (deputy editor), NCDR-ACTION Registry Steering Committee (chair), VA CART Research and Publications Committee (chair); has received research funding from Abbott, Amarin, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chiesi, Eisai, Ethicon, Forest Laboratories, Idorsia, Ironwood, Ischemix, Lilly, Medtronic, PhaseBio, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, Sanofi, Synaptic, and The Medicines Company; has received royalties from Elsevier (editor, Cardiovascular Intervention: A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease); has been a site coinvestigator for Biotronik, Boston Scientific, St. Jude Medical (now Abbott), and Svelte; has been a trustee for the American College of Cardiology; and has performed unfunded research for FlowCo, Merck, Novo Nordisk, PLx Pharma, and Takeda. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American College of Cardiology Foundation
Keywords
- acute ischemic stroke
- endovascular thrombectomy
- readmission
- thrombolysis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
