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Hospital readmissions may occur shortly after discharge for acute MI
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Patients hospitalized for an acute MI had an increased risk for readmission shortly after discharge, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“To prevent some of these readmissions, you need to start thinking of this in the hospital rather than after discharge because some of these readmissions are happening so quickly,” Umesh N. Khot, MD, vice chairman of the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich department of cardiovascular medicine and a staff cardiologist at the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart and Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic, said in an interview with Cardiology Today. “You need to make sure that the care received in the hospital is as good as possible to prevent people from coming back very soon.”
Researchers analyzed data from 3,069 patients who were hospitalized and discharged for acute MI from April 2008 to June 2012. The primary cause of readmission was reviewed within the first 3 months after discharge and were categorized into four groups: MI-related, non-CV-related, CV-related and planned.
There were 494 readmissions within 3 months of the index MI, 47% of which were MI- or CV-related. Within the first 15 days after discharge, 39% of readmissions occurred. The risk for readmission was highest after hospital discharge, then decreased within the postdischarge period.
The risk for other CV-related or MI-related readmissions was highest immediately after discharge. After 15 days, the highest risk was for non-CV-related readmission. The risk for readmissions decreased and remained relatively constant in the second and third months after discharge.
“One of the issues that we want to find out more about are these CV readmissions within the first 15 days. Why are these patients coming back so soon with CV problems?” Khot told Cardiology Today. “Is it related to the index MI or are they developing another problem like HF, and what are some of the ways we can manage that?” – by Darlene Dobkowski
For more information:
Umesh N. Khot, MD, can be reached at khotu@ccf.org.
Disclosures: Khot reports serving as a consultant for AstraZeneca. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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