Publications by authors named "Elizabeth L Nichols"
Background: Rates of recommending percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) vary across clinicians. Whether clinicians agree on preferred treatment options for multivessel coronary artery disease patients has not been well studied.
Methods And Results: We distributed a survey to 104 clinicians from the Northern New England Cardiovascular Study Group through email and at a regional meeting with 88 (84.
In New York (NY), birth certificate data are routinely used for assessing quality of care and health outcomes such as primary cesarean section (PCS) rates. However rare events are often underreported. This study compared birth certificates to medical records, and examined the impact of underreporting on risk adjustment variables for PCS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChelation therapy, typically used to remove heavy metal toxins, has also been controversially used as a treatment for coronary artery disease. The first Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) aimed to provide evidence on chelation therapy's potential for benefit or harm. Although TACT had some significant results, the trial does not provide enough evidence to recommend routine chelation therapy and has limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after cardiac surgery. While AKI severity is known to be associated with increased risk of short-term outcomes, its long-term impact is less well understood.
Methods: Adult patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery at eight centers were enrolled into the Northern New England biomarker registry (n = 1,610).
Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a well-recognized complication of left ventricular heart failure (HF).
Hypothesis: Differences exist in demographic, clinical, hemodynamic, and survival characteristics of patients with left ventricular HF who have combined postcapillary and precapillary PH (CpcPH), isolated postcapillary PH, or no PH.
Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted using a large prospective database of patients undergoing right heart catheterization from 1994 to 2012.
Background: Studies of kidney disease associated with cardiac catheterization typically rely on billing records rather than laboratory data. We examined the associations between percutaneous coronary interventions, acute kidney injury, and chronic kidney disease progression using comprehensive Veterans Affairs clinical and laboratory databases.
Methods And Results: Patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions between 2005 and 2010 (N=24 405) were identified in the Veterans Affairs Clinical Assessment, Reporting, and Tracking registry and examined for associated acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease development or progression relative to 24 405 matched population controls.
Background: Whether delaying coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) after myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with better outcomes or is an unnecessary use of health care resources is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between MI-to-CABG timing on in-hospital death.
Methods: From the Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group (NNE) Cardiac Surgery Registry we identified 3,060 isolated CABG patients with prior MI from 2008 to 2014.
Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) and dialysis-requiring AKI (AKI-D) are common, serious complications of cardiac procedures.
Methods And Results: We evaluated 3 633 762 (17 765 214 weighted population) cardiac catheterization or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) hospital discharges from the nationally representative National Inpatient Sample to determine annual population incidence rates for AKI and AKI-D in the United States from 2001 to 2011. Odds ratios for both conditions and associated in-hospital mortality were calculated for each year in the study period using multiple logistic regression.