Impact of ventricular tachycardia ablation on health care utilization Journal Article

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Authors: Winterfield, J. R.; Kent, A. R.; Karst, E.; Dalal, N.; Mahapatra, S.; Bunch, T. J.; Reynolds, M. R.; Wilber, D. J.
Article Title: Impact of ventricular tachycardia ablation on health care utilization
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) has been shown to reduce the number of recurrent shocks in patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). However, how VT ablation affects postprocedural medical and pharmaceutical usage remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in health care resource utilization (HCRU) after VT ablation. METHODS: This large-scale, real-world, retrospective study used the MarketScan databases to identify patients in the United States with an ICD or cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) undergoing VT ablation. We calculated cumulative medical and pharmaceutical expenditures, office visits, hospitalizations, and emergency room (ER) visits in the 1-year periods before and after ablation. RESULTS: A total of 523 patients met the study inclusion criteria. After VT ablation, median annual cardiac rhythm-related medical expenditures decreased by $5,408. Moreover, the percentage of patients with at least 1 cardiac rhythm-related hospitalization and ER visit decreased from 53% and 41% before ablation to 28% and 26% after ablation, respectively. Similar changes were observed in the number of all-cause hospitalizations and ER visits, but there were no significant changes in all-cause medical expenditures. During the year before VT ablation, there was an increasing rate of health care resource utilization, followed by drastic slowing after ablation. CONCLUSION: This retrospective study demonstrated that catheter ablation seems to reduce hospitalization and overall health care utilization in VT patients with an ICD or CRT-D in place.
Journal Title: Heart rhythm
Volume: 15
Issue: 3
ISSN: 1556-3871; 1547-5271
Publisher: Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved  
Journal Place: United States
Date Published: 2018
Start Page: 355
End Page: 362
Language: eng
DOI/URL:

S1547-5271(17)31202-X
Notes: LR: 20180304; CI: Copyright (c) 2017; JID: 101200317; OTO: NOTNLM; 2016/07/29 00:00 [received]; 2017/10/17 06:00 [pubmed]; 2017/10/17 06:00 [medline]; 2017/10/15 06:00 [entrez]; ppublish