The cost-effectiveness of guideline-driven use of drug-eluting stents: propensity-score matched analysis of a seven-year multicentre experience.

In routine clinical practice, the implantation of a drug-eluting stent (DES) versus a bare metal stent (BMS) for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been guided by criteria for appropriate use. The cost-effectiveness (CE) of adopting these guidelines, however, is not clear, and was investigated from the perspective of the Australian healthcare payer. Baseline and 12-month follow-up data of 12,710 PCI patients enrolled in the Melbourne Interventional Group (MIG) registry between 2004 and 2011 were analysed.

On-Pump Beating Heart Versus Conventional Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Early After Myocardial Infarction: A Propensity-Score Matched Analysis From the ANZSCTS Database.

Background: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) performed early after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) carries a high risk of mortality. By avoiding cardioplegic arrest and aortic cross-clamping, on-pump beating heart CABG (ONBEAT) may benefit patients requiring urgent or emergency revascularisation in the setting of AMI. We evaluated the early and long-term outcomes of ONBEAT versus conventional CABG (ONSTOP) utilising the ANZSCTS National Cardiac Surgery Database.

Thirty-day outcomes in Indigenous Australians following coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: Indigenous Australians have higher rates of cardiovascular disease and comorbidities compared to their non-indigenous counterparts.

Aims: We sought to evaluate whether indigenous status per se portends a worse prognosis following isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Methods: The outcomes of 778 Indigenous Australians (55 ± 10 years; 32% female) enrolled in the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons registry were compared to 36 124 non-Indigenous Australians (66 ± 10 years; 21% female) following isolated CABG.

Prediction of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality at 10 years in the hypertensive aged population.

Background: We have previously developed a score for predicting cardiovascular events in the intermediate term in an elderly hypertensive population. In this study, we aimed to extend this work to predict 10-year cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the hypertensive aged population.

Methods: Ten-year follow-up data of 5,378 hypertensive participants in the Second Australian National Blood Pressure study who were aged 65-84 years at baseline (1995-2001) and without prior cardiovascular events were analyzed.

AusSCORE II in predicting 30-day mortality after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in Australia and New Zealand.

Objectives: To update the Australian System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (AusSCORE) model for operative estimation of 30-day mortality risk after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in the Australian population.

Methods: Data were collected by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons registry from 2001 to 2011 in 25 hospitals. A total of 31,250 patients underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting and the outcome was 30-day mortality.

The impact of lost therapeutic benefit (LTB) in high-risk hypertensive patients: 2-year follow-up data from the Australian REACH registry.

Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the extent of lost therapeutic benefit (LTB) in the hypertensive patients, and to determine the relationship between the presence of LTB and clinical outcomes.

Methods: Prospective-cohort study of n = 2856 patients with or at high risk of atherothrombosis. LTB was calculated as the proportion of patients receiving blood pressure medication who were not attaining guideline blood pressure (BP) control targets (<140/90 mmHg).