The results of EuReCa ONE highlight that OHCA is still a major public health problem accounting for a substantial number of deaths in Europe. EuReCa ONE very clearly demonstrates marked differences in the processes for data collection and reported outcomes following OHCA all over Europe. Using these data and analyses, different countries, regions, systems, and concepts can benchmark themselves and may learn from each other to further improve survival following one of our major health care events.
Digital electrocardiographs are now widely available and a large number of digital electrocardiograms (ECGs) have been recorded and stored. The present study describes the development and clinical applications of a large database of such digital ECGs, namely the CODE (Clinical Outcomes in Digital Electrocardiology) study. ECGs obtained by the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from 2010-17, were organized in a structured database. A hierarchical free-text machine learning algorithm recognized specific ECG diagnoses from cardiologist reports. The Glasgow ECG Analysis Program provided Minnesota Codes and automatic diagnostic statements. The presence of a specific ECG abnormality was considered when both automatic and medical diagnosis were concordant; cases of discordance were decided using heuristisc rules and manual review. The ECG database was linked to the national mortality information system using probabilistic linkage methods. From 2,470,424 ECGs, 1,773,689 patients were identified. After excluding the ECGs with technical problems and patients <16 years-old, 1,558,415 patients were studied. High performance measures were obtained using an end-to-end deep neural network trained to detect 6 types of ECG abnormalities, with F1 scores >80% and specificity >99% in an independent test dataset. We also evaluated the risk of mortality associated with the presence of atrial fibrillation (AF), which showed that AF was a strong predictor of cardiovascular mortality and mortality for all causes, with increased risk in women. In conclusion, a large database that comprises all ECGs performed by a large telehealth network can be useful for further developments in the field of digital electrocardiography, clinical cardiology and cardiovascular epidemiology.
BackgroundKnowledge of the normal limits of the electrocardiogram (ECG) is mandatory for establishing which patients have abnormal ECGs. No studies have assessed the reference standards for a Latin American population. Our aim was to establish the normal ranges of the ECG for pediatric and adult Brazilian primary care patients.MethodsThis retrospective observational study assessed all the consecutive 12-lead digital electrocardiograms of primary care patients at least 1 year old in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, recorded between 2010 and 2015. ECGs were excluded if there were technical problems, selected abnormalities were present or patients with selected self-declared comorbidities or on drug therapy. Only the first ECG from patients with multiple ECGs was accepted. The University of Glasgow ECG analysis program was used to automatically interpret the ECGs. For each variable, the 1st, 2nd, 50th, 98th and 99th percentiles were determined and results were compared to selected studies.ResultsA total of 1,493,905 ECGs were recorded. 1,007,891 were excluded and 486.014 were analyzed. This large study provided normal values for heart rate, P, QRS and T frontal axis, P and QRS overall duration, PR and QT overall intervals and QTc corrected by Hodges, Bazett, Fridericia and Framingham formulae. Overall, the results were similar to those from other studies performed in different populations but there were differences in extreme ages and specific measurements.ConclusionsThis study has provided reference values for Latinos of both sexes older than 1 year. Our results are comparable to studies performed in different populations.
Background The low levels of control of hypertension and diabetes mellitus are a challenge that requires innovative strategies to surpass barriers of low sources, distance, and quality of health care. Objective The aim of this study is to develop a clinical decision support system (CDSS) for diabetes and hypertension management in primary care, to implement it in a resource-constrained region, and to evaluate its usability and health care practitioner satisfaction. Methods This mixed methods study is a substudy of HealthRise Brazil Project, a multinational study designed to implement pilot programs to improve screening, diagnosis, management, and control of hypertension and diabetes among underserved communities. Following the identification of gaps in usual care, a team of clinicians established the software functional requirements. Recommendations from evidence-based guidelines were reviewed and organized into a decision algorithm, which bases the CDSS reminders and suggestions. Following pretesting and expert panel assessment, pilot testing was conducted in a quasi-experimental study, which included 34 primary care units of 10 municipalities in a resource-constrained area in Brazil. A Likert-scale questionnaire evaluating perceived feasibility, usability, and utility of the application and professionals’ satisfaction was applied after 6 months. In the end-line assessment, 2 focus groups with primary care physicians and nurses were performed. Results A total of 159 reminders and suggestions were created and implemented for the CDSS. At the 6-month assessment, there were 1939 patients registered in the application database and 2160 consultations were performed by primary care teams. Of the 96 health care professionals who were invited for the usability assessment, 26% (25/96) were physicians, 46% (44/96) were nurses, and 28% (27/96) were other health professionals. The questionnaire included 24 items on impressions of feasibility, usability, utility, and satisfaction, and presented global Cronbach α of .93. As for feasibility, all professionals agreed (median scores of 4 or 5) that the application could be used in primary care settings and it could be easily incorporated in work routines, but physicians claimed that the application might have caused significant delays in daily routines. As for usability, overall evaluation was good and it was claimed that the application was easy to understand and use. All professionals agreed that the application was useful (score 4 or 5) to promote prevention, assist treatment, and might improve patient care, and they were overall satisfied with the application (median scores between 4 and 5). In the end-line assessment, there were 4211 patients (94.82% [3993/4211] with hypertension and 24.41% [1028/4211] with diabetes) registered in the application’s database and 7960 consultations were performed by primary health care teams. The 17 participants of the focus groups were co...
Background Clinical complexity is increasingly prevalent among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The ‘Atrial fibrillation Better Care’ (ABC) pathway approach has been proposed to streamline a more holistic and integrated approach to AF care; however, there are limited data on its usefulness among clinically complex patients. We aim to determine the impact of ABC pathway in a contemporary cohort of clinically complex AF patients. Methods From the ESC-EHRA EORP-AF General Long-Term Registry, we analysed clinically complex AF patients, defined as the presence of frailty, multimorbidity and/or polypharmacy. A K-medoids cluster analysis was performed to identify different groups of clinical complexity. The impact of an ABC-adherent approach on major outcomes was analysed through Cox-regression analyses and delay of event (DoE) analyses. Results Among 9966 AF patients included, 8289 (83.1%) were clinically complex. Adherence to the ABC pathway in the clinically complex group reduced the risk of all-cause death (adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.72, 95%CI 0.58–0.91), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs; aHR: 0.68, 95%CI 0.52–0.87) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.70, 95%CI: 0.58–0.85). Adherence to the ABC pathway was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death (aHR: 0.74, 95%CI 0.56–0.98) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.76, 95%CI 0.60–0.96) also in the high-complexity cluster; similar trends were observed for MACEs. In DoE analyses, an ABC-adherent approach resulted in significant gains in event-free survival for all the outcomes investigated in clinically complex patients. Based on absolute risk reduction at 1 year of follow-up, the number needed to treat for ABC pathway adherence was 24 for all-cause death, 31 for MACEs and 20 for the composite outcome. Conclusions An ABC-adherent approach reduces the risk of major outcomes in clinically complex AF patients. Ensuring adherence to the ABC pathway is essential to improve clinical outcomes among clinically complex AF patients.
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