title: Cause of death within 30 days of percutaneous coronary intervention in an era of mandatory outcome reporting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study sought to ascertain causes of death and the incidence of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-related mortality within 30 days.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Public reporting of 30-day mortality after PCI without clearly identifying the cause may result in operator risk avoidance and affect hospital reputation and reimbursements. Death certificates, utilized by previous reports, have poor correlation with actual cause of death and may be inadequate for public reporting.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients who died within 30 days of a PCI from January 2009 to April 2011 at a tertiary care center were included. Causes of death were identified through detailed chart review using Academic Research Consortium consensus guidelines and compared with reported death certificates. The causes of death were divided into cardiac and noncardiac and PCI and non-PCI-related categories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 4,078 PCI, 81 deaths (2%) occurred within 30 days. Of these, 58% died of cardiac and 42% of noncardiac causes. However, only 42% of 30-day deaths were attributed to PCI-related complications. Patients with non-PCI-related, compared with PCI-related, death presented with a higher incidence of cardiogenic shock (15 of 47 [32%] vs. 2 of 34 [6%]; p < 0.01) and cardiac arrest (19 of 47 [40%] vs. 1 of 34 [3%]; p < 0.01). Death certificates had only 58% accuracy (95% confidence interval: 45% to 72%) for classifying patients as experiencing cardiac versus noncardiac death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Less than one-half of 30-day deaths are attributed to a PCI-related complication. Death certificates are inaccurate and do not report PCI-related deaths, which may represent a better marker of PCI quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
authors.forename: Bhuvnesh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: A Michael
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lincoff
authors.forename: Samir R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Kapadia
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cacchione
authors.forename: Russell E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bajzer
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: Irving
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Conrad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simpfendorfer
authors.forename: E Murat
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Tuzcu
authors.forename: Patrick L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Whitlow
authors.forename: Mehdi H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Shishehbor
mesh_terms: D001926:Brain Death; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000293:injuries; D003644:Death Certificates; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D062645:Percutaneous Coronary Intervention / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality*; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality; D012770:Shock, Cardiogenic / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D015607:Stents / Q000009:adverse effects; D020521:Stroke / Q000401:mortality; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D013997:Time Factors; D028761:Withholding Treatment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: ARC; Academic Research Consortium; CI; GI; PCI; ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction; STEMI; cause of death; confidence interval; coronary intervention; gastrointestinal; mortality; outcomes; percutaneous coronary intervention; public reporting; risk avoidance