Abstract 14558: Causes and Predictors of Short-Term Readmissions Following Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure Procedure in Patients With and Without Rheumatic Mitral Valve Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, characterized by erratic heart beats. AF increases the risk of thromboembolic events particularly stroke. Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is an alternative option to prevent embolic stroke in patients with AF who have contraindication to anticoagulants. Up to our knowledge, this is the first National Readmission Database (NRD) study to elucidate the difference in readmission rates between rheumatic vs non-rheumatic AF patients who underwent LAAC. Methods: We utilized the Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) between the years 2016-2020. The study involved hospitalizations with rheumatic mitral valve disease (R-MVD) and non-rheumatic mitral valve disease (NR-MVD) who underwent LAAC using ICD-10 diagnostic codes. We deemed this as the index admission. We excluded patients less than 18 years old and October-December hospitalizations from 90-day readmission analysis, due to lack of adjoining period to assess readmission. Results: Among 9,150 patients with mitral valve disease who underwent LAAC in their index hospitalizations, 9,122 were discharged alive. 4,200 patients (45.8%) were readmitted in 90-days. R-MVD 90-day readmission rate compared to NR-MVD (52.3% vs 40.7% respectively, p<0.001). The most common cause of readmission in both groups was atrial fibrillation, 96% of total readmissions in R-MVD and 97% of total readmissions in NR-MVD group. This was followed by “accidental puncture and laceration of a digestive system organ or structure” in 0.3% of R-MVD group vs “mitral valve insufficiency” in 0.7% of NR-MVD readmission causes. Figure 1 shows the Forest plot of multivariate analysis of independent factors associated with readmissions. Conclusion: Among AF patients who underwent LAAC with or without history of mitral valve rheumatic heart disease, those with history of R-MVD had significantly higher 90-day readmission rate.