The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Mar 2024
Textbook outcome: A novel metric in heart transplantation outcomes.
Assessing heart transplant program quality using short-term survival is insufficient. We define and validate the composite metric textbook outcome and examine its association with overall survival. ⋯ Textbook outcome is an alternative means of examining heart transplant outcomes and is associated with long-term survival. The use of textbook outcome as an adjunctive metric provides a holistic view of patient and center outcomes.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Mar 2024
Socioeconomic distress is associated with failure to rescue in cardiac surgery.
The influence of socioeconomic determinants of health on failure to rescue (mortality after a postoperative complication) after cardiac surgery is unknown. We hypothesized that increasing Distressed Communities Index, a comprehensive socioeconomic ranking by ZIP code, would be associated with higher failure to rescue. ⋯ Increasing Distressed Communities Index, a measure of poor socioeconomic status, is associated with greater risk-adjusted likelihood of failure to rescue after cardiac surgery. These findings highlight that current quality metrics do not account for socioeconomic status, and as such underrepresent procedural risk for these vulnerable patients.