Institutional Red Blood Cell Transfusion Rates Are Correlated Following Endovascular and Surgical Cardiovascular Procedures: Evidence That Local Culture Influences Transfusion Decisions.

Background The relationship between local hospital culture and transfusion rates following endovascular and surgical cardiovascular procedures has not been well studied. Methods and Results Patients undergoing coronary revascularization, aortic valve replacement, lower extremity peripheral vascular intervention, or carotid artery revascularization from up to 852 US hospitals in the Nationwide Readmissions Database were identified. Crude and risk-standardized red blood cell transfusion rates were determined for each procedure.

Association Between Red Blood Cell Transfusion and Clinical Outcomes Among Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: We evaluated the association between postprocedural packed red blood cell transfusion and morbidity and mortality among patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 429 patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Propensity-score adjusted multivariable logistic and Cox regression models were used to determine the association of packed red blood cell transfusion with the composite endpoint of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke at 30 days and in hospital, and 1-year mortality.

Drug Eluting Stents for Very Long Lesions: Go Long, But Know the Risks.

Long coronary artery lesions are increasingly treated with new technologies including current generation drug eluting stents (DES) despite a lack of robust data on outcomes. In the current study, patients receiving Xience V DES for very long lesions (>35 mm) compared to lesions 25-35 mm had similar outcomes. Future research should address late outcomes, stent thrombosis rates, as well as investigation of lesions greater than 60 mm.