scholarly journals P054: Interventions aimed at improvement in emergency department related transitions in care for adult patients with atrial fibrillation and flutter: a systematic review

CJEM ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (S1) ◽  
pp. S76-S76
Author(s):  
J. Gilbertson ◽  
R. Moghrabi ◽  
S.W. Kirkland ◽  
K. Tate ◽  
W. Sevcik ◽  
...  

Introduction: Introduction: Transitions in care (TiC) interventions have been proposed to improve the management and outcomes of patients in emergency departments (ED). The objective of this review was to examine the effectiveness of ED-based TiC interventions to improve outcomes for adult patients presenting to an ED with acute atrial fibrillation or flutter (AFF). Methods: Methods: A comprehensive search of eight electronic databases and various grey literature sources was conducted. Comparative studies assessing the effectiveness of interventions to improve TiC for patients presenting to the ED with acute AFF were eligible. Two independent reviewers completed study selection, quality assessment, and data extraction. When applicable, relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random effects model and heterogeneity was reported among studies using I-square (I2) statistics. Results: Results: From 744 citations, seven studies were included, consisting of three randomized controlled trials (RCT), three before-after (B/A) studies, and one cohort study. Study quality ranged from unclear to low for the RCTs according to the risk of bias tool, moderate in the BA trials according to the BA quality assessment tool, and high quality of the cohort study according to the Newcastle Ottawa scale. The majority of interventions were set within-ED (n=5), including three clinical pathways/management guidelines and two within-ED observation units. Post-ED interventions (n=2) included patient education and general practitioner referral. Four studies reported a decreased overall hospital length of stay (LoS) for AFF patients undergoing TiC interventions compared to control, ranging from 26.4 to 53 hours; however, incomplete and non-standardized outcome reporting precluded meta-analysis. An increase in conversion to normal sinus rhythm among TiC intervention patients was noted, which may be related to increased utilization of electrical cardioversion among the RCTs (RR=2.16; 95% CI: 1.42, 3.30; I2=%), B/A studies (RR=2.69, 95% CI: 2.17, 3.33), and cohort study (RR=1.39; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.56). Conclusion: Conclusions: Within-ED TiC interventions may reduce hospital LoS and increase use of electrical cardioversion. However, no clear recommendations to implement such interventions in EDs can be generated from this systematic review and more efforts are required to improve TiC for patients with AFF.

CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. S9-S9
Author(s):  
F. Tran ◽  
D. Junqueira ◽  
M. Tan ◽  
B. Rowe

Introduction: Management of acute atrial fibrillation or flutter (AFF) in the emergency department (ED) can be performed with chemical or electrical cardioversion. Procainamide is the most common chemical agent used in Canada; however, there is substantial practice variation. The objective of this systematic review was to provide comparative evidence on return to normal sinus rhythm (NSR) and adverse events to better support clinical decisions. Methods: Systematic search of five electronic databases and grey literature. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective controlled cohort studies including adults (≥17 years) with recent-onset of AFF comparing intravenous procainamide with other cardioversion strategies (e.g., electrical cardioversion, placebo or other antiarrhythmic drugs) were eligible. Two independent reviewers performed study selection and data extraction. Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42019142080). Results: From 4060 potentially relevant citations, 7 studies were considered eligible and three RCTs and two cohort studies included in the analysis. Procainamide was less effective in promoting return to NSR at 1st attempt compared to other chemical (RR 0.76; 95% CI: 0.65 to 0.90) and electrical (RR 0.58; 95% CI: 0.53 to 0.64) options. Electrical cardioversion was more effective in restoring NSR compared to procainamide when used as 2nd attempt in one RCT (RR 0.46; 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.92). Pre-specified serious adverse events were assessed and reported by two studies showing that hypotension was more common in patients receiving procainamide in comparison with electrical cardioversion (RR 20.57; 95% CI: 1.59 to 265.63). Treatment discontinuation due to adverse events was infrequently reported with only two studies reporting that no patients withdrew from the study following treatment with procainamide. The remaining studies provided incomplete data reporting on adverse events. Conclusion: Shared decision-making for patients with acute AFF in the ED requires knowledge of the effectiveness and safety of comparative interventions. Overall, procainamide is less effective than other chemical options and electrical cardioversion strategies to restore NSR. Evidence shows that hypotension is a concern when procainamide is administered; however, the overall adverse events information provided from the studies is suboptimal.


CJEM ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (S1) ◽  
pp. S109-S110
Author(s):  
T. Nikel ◽  
S.W. Kirkland ◽  
S. Campbell ◽  
B.H. Rowe

Introduction: Acute atrial fibrillation or flutter (AFF) is the most common dysrhythmia managed in the emergency department (ED). A key component of managing AFF in the ED is the prevention of stroke. Predictive indices (e.g., CHADS2 , HAS-BLED) should be used to assess each patient’s risk of stroke and bleeding to determine the appropriate anticoagulation therapy. The frequency of use of these predictive indices in the emergency department to determine appropriate anticoagulation therapy remains unclear. This systematic review is designed to examine the use of risk scores in the ED to determine the management of patients presenting to the ED for atrial fibrillation and flutter. Methods: An extensive search of eight electronic databases and grey literature was conducted. Quasi-experimental studies were eligible for inclusion. Studies had to report on the ED management of adult patients presenting with AFF to be included. Two independent reviewers judged the relevance, inclusion, and risk of bias of the studies. Individual and pooled statistics were calculated as odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI using a random effects model and heterogeneity (I2) was reported. Results: From 1,648 citations, 37 studies were included in this review. Heterogeneity was very high, precluding pooling. Only one of the included studies documented the use of CHADS2 scores by attending physicians; while no studies documented the use of HAS-BLED. There was variability in the ED management strategies of AFF. The utilization of rhythm control in the treatment of AFF ranged considerable (OR: 0.04-9.84) in comparison to rate control. Of the 17 studies reporting cardioversion approaches, chemical (9 {53%}) cardioversion was the most common management strategy of AFF. Conclusion: Our results suggests that either few physicians are documenting stroke risk scores in adult patients with AFF, or that research studies assessing ED management of AFF are not reporting scores documented by the attending physicians. Future research needs to examine the use of stroke risk scores to determine the optimal and appropriate care for patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceri Battle ◽  
Simon Hayward ◽  
Sabine Eggert ◽  
Phillip Adrian Evans

IntroductionIt is well-recognised that the detection of rib fractures is unreliable using chest radiograph. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate whether the use of lung ultrasound is superior in accuracy to chest radiography, in the diagnosis of rib fractures following blunt chest wall trauma.MethodsThe search filter was used for international online electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane and ScienceDirect, with no imposed time or language limitations. Grey literature was searched. Two review authors completed study selection, data extraction and data synthesis/analysis process. Quality assessment using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies Tool (QUADAS-2) was completed.Results13 studies were included. Overall, study results demonstrated that the use of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of rib fractures in blunt chest wall trauma patients appears superior compared with chest radiograph. All studies were small, single centre and considered to be at risk of bias on quality assessment. Meta-analysis was not possible due to high levels of heterogeneity, lack of appropriate reference standard and poor study quality.DiscussionThe results demonstrate that lung ultrasound may be superior to chest radiography, but the low quality of the studies means that no definitive statement can be made.


2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato De Vecchis ◽  
Andrea Paccone ◽  
Marco Di Maio

In the present retrospective cohort study, we have evaluated the missed or delayed atrial mechanical recovery in a population of patients with persistent or long-lasting persistent AF who achieved restoration of sinus rhythm on the ECG by electrical cardioversion (ECV).  The endpoint of our   study was   the failure to recover the normal mechanics of the left atrium.  Inclusion criterion was the persistent or long-lasting persistent atrial fibrillation successfully treated by means of    ECV , provided that  a pertinent documentation  was made available, comprising ECG, conventional 2D echo-color-Doppler and   speckle tracking echocardiography(STE)  evaluation, with also a STE assessment  of the atria at the days 1, 30 and 90  from the ECV freely available within  the clinical record  of the patient. Out of a total of 80 patients with persistent or long-standing persistent AF, retrospectively enrolled, as many as  22.5% of them did not achieve the normalization of their  atrial STE profile, even though they had been converted to sinus rhythm on the ECG by means of ECV.  The building of ROC curves allowed us to establish that early measurements of global atrial strain could serve to predict  both the risk of failure to recover the atrial mechanical function and the one of AF relapses over a 12 month follow-up. The   values of 18% and 17% were also calculated  to serve as cut off values, respectively,  for the risk  of atrial mechanical dysfunction and for the risk of AF  relapses over a 12 month follow-up. Failure to recover the atrial reservoir function can accompany a restoration of sinus rhythm on the ECG in patients with long-standing persistent AF. In this case, a serial STE evaluation could be useful to evaluate the atrial hypofunction over time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Siddharth Sonwane ◽  
Wasundhara Bhad

Background: This review synthesizes the available evidence about the individual skeletal maturity with biological maturity indicators and compares it with the levels of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in growing children. Aims: This systematic review aimed to clarify the question: Is GCF ALP a reliable biomarker to assess skeletal maturity during growth? Objectives: The objective of this systematic review is to collect, compile, and review the existing evidence on the levels of GCF ALP activity in growing children and comparing its reliability with contemporary growth indicators. Materials and Methods: A literature appraisal executed using Entres PubMed, www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov, Scupose, Hinary, Ebsco, Embass, Cochrane; Google Scholar Electronic database search engines were used. The MeSH term used “growth markers in gingival crevicular fluid” or “growth markers in growing children.” Studies published till October, 2020, were included in this study. Data Extraction and Quality Assessment: The data have extracted from the selected articles based on year of publication, study design, age of subjects, instruments used, and author’s conclusions. The quality assessment was executed using BIOCROSS Scale. This scale is exclusive for cross-sectional studies with biomarkers. Results: Literature search identified 731 records from electronic databases and from the partial grey literature (Google scholar) search. Finally, six articles fulfilled eligibility criteria included in the review. Conclusions: All the six studies concluded that GCF ALP activity is a reliable method in determining a skeletal maturity indicator in growing children.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tallarico ◽  
Joseph Fiorellini ◽  
Yasushi Nakajima ◽  
Yuki Omori ◽  
Iida Takahisa ◽  
...  

Purpose. Instead of original abutments, compatible abutments are often selected for financial reasons. The present study aimed to evaluate mechanical outcomes, microleakage, and marginal accuracy at the implant-abutment interface of original versus nonoriginal implant abutments. Study Selection. Search strategy encompassed literature from 1967 up to March 2017 to identify relevant studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The following electronic databases were consulted: PubMed database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Embase (Excerpta Medica dataBASE), and the Grey Literature Database (New York Academy of Medicine Grey Literature Report). Quality assessment of the full-text articles selected was performed. Abutments were classified in original (produced by the same implant manufacturer), nonoriginal certified (produced by a third-party milling center, certified by implant companies), and nonoriginal compatible (produced by a third-party milling center for similar connections). Results. A total of 16 articles fulfilled inclusion criteria and quality assessment and were selected for the qualitative analysis. All of the included studies were in vitro research with high or moderate risk of bias and reported data from 653 implant abutments. Original and nonoriginal certified abutments showed better results in terms of mechanical outcomes, microleakage, and marginal accuracy compared to nonoriginal compatible abutments. Conclusions. Following the clear warnings coming from the present systematic review, clinical suggestions regarding the effect of a nonoriginal abutment can be drawn. However, in vivo, long-term, randomized controlled trials are needed to provide definitive clinical conclusion about the long-term clinical outcomes of original and nonoriginal abutments.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehizogie Edigin ◽  
precious O Eseaton ◽  
Iriagbonse R Asemota ◽  
Emmanuel Akuna ◽  
Hafeez Shaka ◽  
...  

Introduction: Studies have shown that psoriasis increases the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, it is unclear if co-existing psoriasis worsens outcomes in AF hospitalizations. This study aims to compare the outcomes of patients primarily admitted for AF with and without a secondary diagnosis of psoriasis. Methods: Data were abstracted from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2016 and 2017 Database. NIS is the largest inpatient hospitalization database in the United States. The NIS was searched for hospitalizations for adult patients with AF as principal diagnosis with and without psoriasis as secondary diagnosis using ICD 10 codes. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality. Hospital length of stay (LOS), total hospital charges, odds of undergoing ablation, pharmacological, and electrical cardioversion were secondary outcomes of interest. Multivariate logistic and linear regression analysis was used accordingly to adjust for confounders. STATA software was used to analyze the data. Results: There were over 71 million hospitalizations in the combined NIS 2016 and 2017 database. Out of 821,630 hospitalizations for AF, 4,490 (0.55%) had Psoriasis. Hospitalizations for AF with psoriasis had similar inpatient mortality [0.78% vs 0.92%, AOR 0.95, 95% CI (0.44-2.04), P=0.895], total hospital charge [$41,869 vs $39,145, P=0.572] and longer LOS [3.72 vs 3.37 days, P=0.023] compared to those without psoriasis. Odds of undergoing ablation [5.0% vs 4.2%, AOR 1.12, 95% CI (0.82-1.52), P=0.481], pharmacologic cardioversion [0.11% vs 0.38%, AOR 0.29, 95% CI (0.04-2.10), P=0.219] and electrical cardioversion [19.2% vs 17.5%, AOR 0.99, 95% CI (0.83-1.19), P=0.930] were similar in both groups. Conclusion: Hospitalizations for AF with psoriasis had longer LOS compared to those without psoriasis. AF hospitalizations with psoriasis however had similar inpatient mortality, total hospital charges, odds of undergoing ablation, pharmacologic and electrical cardioversion compared to those without psoriasis.


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