CR3 TRENDS IN HEALTHCARE RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND MORTALITY AMONG HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE, 2010-2016

Abstract Background: Hydroxyurea is daily oral medication proven to decrease complications of sickle cell disease (SCD). While concerns have been raised about the safety of hydroxyurea, it is now generally viewed as a well-tolerated medication for SCD. The primary toxicity of hydroxyurea that requires holding of treatment is reversible cytopenia. Due to its classification as a chemotherapeutic agent and safety concerns regarding inappropriate chemotherapy ordering, hydroxyurea can only be ordered by "chemotherapy-certified" providers at some hospitals. At our hospital system, pediatric resident physicians were restricted from ordering hydroxyurea. Instead of being a part of a resident's hospital admission orders, hydroxyurea for inpatients had to be ordered separately by a hematology fellow or attending physician. In June 2016 our hospital changed its policy to allow residents to order hydroxyurea for patients with SCD admitted to the hospital who were already on hydroxyurea at home. We hypothesized that this change in policy to allow residents to order hydroxyurea would increase the proportion of patients with SCD appropriately receiving their home hydroxyurea by hospital day 1. We also hypothesized that this policy change would not result in an increase in the proportion of patients inappropriately receiving hydroxyurea when it should have been held based on the admission complete blood count (CBC). Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of a random sample of patients admitted to the hematology service the year before (2015) and the year after (2017) the policy change in 2016. Patients were eligible for study if they were admitted to the hematology service and were taking hydroxyurea as documented by a clinic note within the last three months. Patients were excluded if they were admitted to the intensive care unit or for surgery. Patients were also excluded if discharged on hospital day 0 or 1. Institutional guidelines advise holding hydroxyurea if any of the following: absolute neutrophil count <1250/µL; platelet count <80K/µL; reticulocyte count <100K/µL, unless hemoglobin >8.0 gm/dL. Hydroxyurea was classified as "inappropriately given" if a patient received hydroxyurea despite having an admission CBC value below a hold parameter. Hydroxyurea was classified as "appropriately not given" if a patient did not receive hydroxyurea when having a CBC value below a hold parameter. Patients who were on hydroxyurea who never received hydroxyurea inpatient with CBC values above the hold parameters were classified as "inappropriately not given." Patients admitted in 2015 (before resident ordering) were compared with patients admitted in 2017 (after resident ordering) using a chi-square test or Fisher exact test. Results: In total, 217 hospitalizations of eligible patients were reviewed: 91 before the policy change and 126 after the policy change. Based on the admission CBC, hydroxyurea should have been held for 8 patients. Excluding these patients who should not have received hydroxyurea, patients after the policy change were significantly more likely to have received their home hydroxyurea by hospital day 1: before 62/90 (69%) vs. after 105/119 (88%), p=0.0005. The proportion of patients who inappropriately received hydroxyurea was very low in both groups: before 1/91 (1%) vs. after 3/126 (2%), p=0.64. No serious adverse clinical events occurred from this "inappropriate" administration of hydroxyurea. The figure graphically displays the proportion of patients in the two groups who: appropriately received on hospital day 0/1/2+, inappropriately did not receive, appropriately did not receive, and inappropriately received hydroxyurea. Conclusion: Resident ordering of home hydroxyurea for hospitalized patients with SCD appears to be safe. Policies that permit residents to order hydroxyurea as part of a patient's admission orders can help increase the proportion of patients who receive this important medication while inpatient. Figure. Figure. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients with Sickle Cell Disease

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2021-146973 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 138 (Supplement 1) ◽

pp. 3090-3090

Author(s):

Stephanie Guarino ◽

Sophie M. Lanzkron

Keyword(s):

Sickle Cell Disease ◽

Sickle Cell ◽

Research Funding ◽

Case Fatality ◽

Hospitalized Patients ◽

Categorical Variables ◽

Fatality Rate ◽

Cell Disease ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Privately Held

Abstract Introduction Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited hemoglobinopathy and is estimated to affect more than 100,000 Americans. Current Centers for Disease Control statistics indicate that Black Americans die from COVID-19 at a disproportionately high rate, 13.6% of 449, 373 deaths but only account for 12.54% of the United States Population (CDC COVID Data Tracker accessed 5/5/2021). A voluntary clinical reported registry of COVID-19 infections in patients with SCD reported both high hospitalization rates (69%) and case fatality rates (7%) (Panepinto, 2020), but only reported data from March 20-May 21, 2020. A retrospective cohort review from England demonstrated a 4-fold increased risk of hospitalization and 2.6-fold increased risk of death due to COVID-19 for those patients with sickle cell disease compared to the general population (Hippisley-Cox, 2021). The unique constellation of SCD manifestations complicate both the diagnosis and management of COVID-19, particularly related to anticoagulation and transfusion practices. Understanding the impact of early exchange and anticoagulation would guide development of appropriate treatment guidelines and future understanding of pathophysiology. We report on the outcomes for all hospitalized inpatients with SARS-CoV-2 and SCD at institutions using Cerner electronic health record (EHR). Methods Exempted retrospective review approved by ChristianaCare IRB. We obtained deidentified data from the Cerner COVID Data Lab which includes information on all hospitalized inpatients with SARS-CoV-2 and sickle cell disease as documented by ICD 10 D57.XX from 12/10/2019-10/15/2020 at institutions that use the Cerner EHR. Those with sickle cell trait excluded. The data included 209 patients; 1 patient had separate 2 visits, only the first visit in the data. Evaluated anticoagulation use, not dose. Descriptive statistics are given: percentages for categorical variables and mean (standard deviation) for continuous variables. Comparisons between patients who died or went to hospice versus patients who recovered were done using unadjusted chi-squared tests or t-tests. Results: Admission: 124 (74.3%) were afebrile (temp <100) 52 (28.4%) were tachypneic (RR >22) 10 (6.2%) were hypoxic (<92%) 7 (3.3%) were intubated during hospitalization Many patients had comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, and congestive heart failure, but it was not clear if patients had multiple co-morbidities. Treatment: 16 (7.7%) got transfused RBC between 1.77 and 589.18 hours into admission 5 (2.4%) got Remdesivir, none of these patients died/went to hospice. No exchange transfusions, but maybe wasn't captured in coding data 149 (71.3%) received anticoagulant, dosing unable to be obtained so not known if this was prophylactic or treatment dosing. Outcomes: 158 (80.2%) discharged home 18 (9.1%) discharged facility 8 (4.1%) died 2 (1.0%) discharged hospice 11 (5.6%) left against medical advice 12 (5.7%) missing disposition data Those who died/went to hospice had longer hospital stays, were more likely to be hypoxic and initially tachypneic. None of these patients received remdesivir. Study included small numbers but those who died more likely to have hypertension, diabetes w/ and w/out complications, CHF. Discussion This data only included hospitalized patients, doesn't account for patients who remained outpatient so case fatality rate likely lower. 10/209 patients died- 4.8% fatality rate, 12 patients missing final discharge disposition. 18 went to facility, may have died as outpatient. Only a small number of patients received remdesivir and there were overall low rates of anticoagulation, concerning given SCD is a hypercoagulable state. Study limitations include only hospitalized patients in the dataset and only draws from Cerner EMR institutions, a 26% market share. Based on our own SCD population, only a small percentage of patients with SCD and COVID-19 hospitalized. Additionally, there is likely significant variability between institutions' treatment protocols, particularly in the early months of the data set. Finally, we could not adequately gauge severity of COVID-19 disease given notable variations in institutional resources. TABLES (in process): TABLE 1- Demographics- split by death/hospice vs. other dispositions TABLE 2- Admission Characteristics- Death/hospice vs. others TABLE 3- Treatments- Death/Hospice vs. others Disclosures Lanzkron: Shire: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; CSL Behring: Research Funding; Imara: Research Funding; GBT: Research Funding; Pfizer: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Teva: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Novo Nordisk: Consultancy.

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