Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common diagnoses on admission to hospital in Germany, and one which incurs high costs. Integrated care in case management programs (CMPs) aims to improve treatment quality in the sense of guideline-driven treatment, while reducing hospital admissions, hospital costs, and mortality. A total of 1,844 patient data records from 11 German statutory health insurance companies enrolled in the CMP (intervention group [IG]) were compared with 1,844 standard-care patients (control group) using propensity score matching.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The use of implantable loop recorder (ILR) to detect atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with a history of cryptogenic stroke (CS) has seldom been investigated in "real-world" settings.
Objective: This study aimed to present the results of the Stroke Prevention by Increasing DEtection Rates of Atrial Fibrillation (SPIDER-AF) registry.
Method: SPIDER is a multicentric, observational registry, including 35 facilities all over Germany.
Background: In 2015 and 2018, European Society of Cardiology guidelines for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) favoring radial access over femoral access were published. These recommendations were based on randomized trials suggesting that patients treated radially experienced reduced bleeding complications and all-cause mortality. We aimed to assess acceptance and results of radial access in a real-world scenario by analyzing all PCI cases in the Quality Assurance in Invasive Cardiology (QuIK) registry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We aimed to analyze the 2020 standard of care in certified German chest pain units (CPU) with a special focus on non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) through a voluntary survey obtained from all certified units, using a prespecified questionnaire.
Methods: The assessment included the collection of information on diagnostic protocols, risk assessment, management and treatment strategies in suspected NSTE-ACS, the timing of invasive therapy in non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and the choice of antiplatelet therapy.
Results: The response rate was 75%.
We aimed to assess patient acceptance and effectiveness of a 12-month structured management program in patients after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event who were treated in a special setting of office-based cardiologists. The program comprised patient documentation with a specific tool (Bundesverband Niedergelassener Kardiologen [German Federation of Office-Based Cardiologists] cardiac pass with visit scheduling) shared by the hospital physician and the office-based cardiologist, the definition of individual treatment targets, and the systematic information of patients in order to optimize adherence to therapy. Participating centers (36 hospitals, 60 office-based cardiologists) included a total of 1,003 patients with ACS (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI] 44.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) has recently evolved as a modality for noninvasive coronary imaging.
Objective: To assess the accuracy and robustness of MSCT vs the criterion standard of invasive coronary angiography for detection of obstructive coronary artery disease.
Design, Setting, And Patients: Prospective, single-center study conducted in a referral center setting in Germany and enrolling 103 consecutive patients (mean age, 61.
The Society of German Cardiologists in private practice (BNK) reports about its project on quality assurance in invasive cardiology (QuIK). Results of a computerized data collection and analysis of cardiac catheterizations and interventions in the years 1999-2002 are presented. These results are compared with other registries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF