BACKGROUND: Patients with D-transposition of the great arteries and atrial switch have a high incidence of atrial arrhythmias. We sought to analyze the arrhythmia substrate, ablation strategies, and outcomes for catheter ablation in this population. METHODS: An in-depth analysis of all clinical and procedural data in patients with D-transposition of the great arteries, atrial baffles, and atrial arrhythmia ablation was performed. RESULTS: A cohort of 32 patients (72% male, mean age 38±7 years) underwent ablation for non-AV nodal reentrant tachycardia atrial arrhythmias, and 4 patients underwent AV nodal reentrant tachycardia ablation. Cavotricuspid isthmus flutter (CTI-flutter) was the most common arrhythmia, encountered in 75% of patients, followed by scar-related intraatrial reentrant tachycardia (non-CTI intraatrial reentrant tachycardia, 53%) and focal atrial tachycardia (focal atrial tachycardia, 6%). Among the 32 patients, 26 underwent 31 procedures at our institution. For patients with prior outside intervention, the index ablation at our institution revealed CTI-dependent flutter in 3/5 cases. However, redo ablation after an index ablation with demonstrated bidirectional CTI block revealed different/new arrhythmia substrates (80% non-CTI intraatrial reentrant tachycardia, 40% focal atrial tachycardia). Achieving bidirectional block across the CTI often required ablating on both sides of the baffle (retroaortic access, 81%; using a baffle leak, 11.5%; or transbaffle puncture, 7.7%). Combined approaches were necessary in 19% to reach the critical tissue. Acute procedural success was 81%, and recurrence was documented in 58% of patients. Despite recurrence, clinical arrhythmia burden was significantly reduced post-ablation ( P <0.001), with rare episodes, amenable to antiarrhythmic therapy. Redo ablation was required in 5 (19%) patients and uncovered new arrhythmia substrates. AV nodal reentrant tachycardia ablation also required transbaffle approaches in 3/4 patients. CONCLUSIONS: CTI-dependent flutter was the most common arrhythmia in patients with Dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries and atrial switch. Transbaffle approaches were often necessary, and, provided that bidirectional CTI block was achieved at the index ablation, late recurrence was due to different arrhythmia mechanisms. Despite recurrence, ablation was associated with significant clinical improvement.
Background and Objectives: Docusate sodium is a commonly prescribed medication to relieve constipation, but several studies have demonstrated its ineffectiveness. Its continued use in the hospital setting adds unnecessary cost and risk to patients. At the Mayo Clinic Florida campus, docusate was ordered for 9.7% of patients admitted to the internal medicine resident (IMED) teaching services during the month of January 2020, and the average hospital length of stay (LOS) was 3.1 days. Methods: A multidisciplinary team of internal medicine resident physicians and pharmacists collaborated to address this quality gap through a quality improvement project. It sought to reduce the number of patients admitted to the IMED teaching services who had an order placed for docusate by 50% in less than 6 months without adversely impacting hospital LOS. Two separate interventions were devised using Six Sigma methodology and implemented to reduce the frequency of docusate orders, which involved educating internal medicine residents and hospital pharmacists, and creating an additional process-related barrier to docusate orders. Results: The percentage of docusate orders decreased from 9.7% to 2.4% (P = .004) with a grossly unchanged LOS of 3.1 days to 2.7 days (P = .12) after 5 weeks. Conclusion: The implementation of a dual-pronged intervention successfully decreased the use of an ineffective medication in hospitalized patients without impacting the balancing measure, and serves as a model that can be adopted at other institutions with the hope of promoting evidence-based medical care.
Background: Patients with ccTGA have a high incidence of atrial arrhythmias and premature failure of the systemic right ventricle. We sought to better define this risk. Methods: A retrospective review of all clinical data for patients with ccTGA followed at a large tertiary care institution was performed. The primary outcome was a composite of death and cardiac transplantation. Results: A cohort of 165 patients (age 41±16 years, 53% male) were followed for 11±8 years; 41 patients died, 7 underwent cardiac transplantation, and 4 underwent VAD placement. Male sex (HR 2.7, p=0.002), older age (HR 1.04, p<0.001), clinical heart failure symptoms (HR 7, p<0.001), heart failure hospitalization (HR 4.9, p<0.001), syncope (HR 1.8, p=0.04) and pulmonary hypertension (HR 2.77, p<0.001) were significant predictors of the primary outcome. Atrial fibrillation (HR 3.5, p=0.002), atrial flutter (HR 3.05, p=0.04), and prolonged QRS duration (HR 1.01, p=0.004) on the first ECG, as well as right and left atrial enlargement (HR 4, p<0.001 and 3.7, p<0.003) and severe systemic AV valve regurgitation (HR 3.8, p=0.03) on the first echocardiogram were associated with poor outcomes. Atrial arrhythmias occurred in 110(67%) patients: atrial fibrillation in 75(45%), atrial flutter in 50(30%), and supraventricular tachycardia in 16(9.7%) patients. Arrhythmias were largely asymptomatic in 109(66%) patients, while 25(14.5%) experienced palpitations, dizziness or presyncope, and 10(6%) presented with decompensated heart failure. Cardioversion and antiarrhythmic therapy were utilized in 53(32%) patients. Surgical pulmonary vein isolation or atrial MAZE were performed in 15(9%) patients, cryoablation of the CTI in 3 patients, and surgical ablation of an accessory pathway in 2 patients. One or more catheter ablation procedures were also performed in 18(11%) patients. Conclusions: Atrial fibrillation and flutter, heart failure, prolonged QRS duration, systemic AV valve regurgitation and pulmonary hypertension predict worse outcomes in ccTGA. Although asymptomatic in a majority of patients, atrial arrhythmias are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Whether a rhythm control strategy even in asymptomatic patients may improve outcomes remains unknown.
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