REPORTING FROM CRT 2018

WASHINGTON (FRONTLINE MEDICAL NEWS) – Hospitalizations for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM), a condition that primarily affects postmenopausal women, have been rising steadily, along with rates of in-hospital mortality due to this condition, according to a study conducted with outcomes from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database.

The study was presented at CRT 2018, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Washington Hospital Center.

Importantly, a multivariate analysis of predictors of in-hospital mortality based on this database revealed that there were “several potentially reversible causes,” reported Konstantinos V. Voudris, MD, PhD, who is completing a residency in internal medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

TCM, which is characterized by left ventricular apical akinesis and chest pain that mimics the features of acute coronary syndromes (ACS), was first described in 1990 in Japan. The first U.S. case was reported in 1998, but the condition is now well recognized and an ICD code was created for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in 2007.

The goal of this study was to evaluate temporal trends and predictors of in-hospital mortality for TCM. Data from the NIS database were analyzed from the time that the ICD code was introduced until 2013. Only TCM cases that underwent coronary angiography during the same admission were included in the analysis.

There were 72,559 TCM admissions during the study period. When stratified by year, the annual rate of TCM cases rose significantly, from 11.1 to 43.8 per 100,000 hospitalizations from 2007 to 2013.

Although overall in-hospital mortality was 2.5%, it climbed from 1.4% in 2007 to 3.2% in 2013. When compared to patients who did not die during hospitalizations, those who did die were on average older (69.9 vs. 66.4 years; P less than .0001) and had more comorbidities. When a multivariate adjustment was made for baseline clinical risk, the presence of acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), peripheral artery disease (PAD), pulmonary hypertension, and arrhythmias remained significant predictors of mortality in patients with TCM.

“We found a number of modifiable and nonmodifiable factors that are associated with a significantly increased mortality, and we think clinicians should be aware of these factors when managing this condition,” Dr. Voudris reported.

Of these risk factors, AKI was associated with the greatest increased odds ratio (OR) with a more than fourfold increased risk of death (OR, 4.18; P less than .001). The presence of PAD (OR, 1.87; P less than .0001) and arrhythmia (OR, 1.88; P less than .0001) almost doubled the risk of in-hospital mortality.

Although females represented 89% of the TCM cases collected during the study period, males with comorbid diseases were at particularly high risk of death, an observation that is consistent with previous reports, according to Dr. Voudris. Relative to women, men were more likely to present with unstable hemodynamics and to develop cardiogenic shock.

Although Dr. Voudris acknowledged that the rising number of hospitalizations for TCM is likely due largely to increasing recognition of this condition, he suggested that there may be other contributing factors to the growing incidence, such as the aging of the U.S. population. He noted that the rise in cases persisted throughout the study period when awareness of TCM might be expected to have improved.

“This is still an uncommon disease, but it is important to recognize,” agreed Sachin Kumar, MD , an interventional cardiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Moderator of the session in which these data were presented, Dr. Kumar indicated that it is important to increase awareness of the condition to accelerate the time to diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Voudris reported no financial relationships relevant to this study.

cardnews@mdedge.com

SOURCE: Voudris, KV. CRT 2018.

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