Clinical and pharmacological characteristics of elderly patients admitted for bleeding: impact on in-hospital mortality

Impact of short-term proton pump inhibitors vs. histamine-2 receptor antagonists on gut microbiota in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A multicenter randomized trial

BACKGROUND

Several randomized controlled studies have suggested that the prophylactic use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients could not reduce the incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) and may increase adverse events such as intestinal infection and pneumonia. Gut microbiota may play a critical role in the process. PPIs has been widely prescribed for GIB prophylaxis in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study aimed to determine the short-term effects of PPI and histamine-2 receptor antagonist (H2RA) treatment on gut microbiota of ACS patients.

METHODS

The study was designed as a single-blind, multicenter, three-parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial conducted at three centers in Beijing, China. We enrolled ACS patients at low-to-medium risk of GIB and randomized (2:2:1) them to either PPI (n = 40), H2RA (n = 31), or control group (n = 21). The primary outcomes were the alterations in gut microbiota after 7 days of acid suppressant therapy. Stool samples were collected at baseline and 7 days and analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

RESULTS

There were no significant changes in the diversity of gut microbiota after the short-term use of acid suppressants, but the abundance of Fusobacterium significantly increased and that of Bifidobacterium significantly decreased, especially in PPI users. In addition, the abundance of some pathogenic bacteria, including Enterococcus and Desulfovibrio, was significantly elevated in the PPI users. The fecal microbiota of the PPI users included more arachidonic acid metabolism than that of control group.

CONCLUSIONS

PPIs may increase the risk of infection by adversely altering gut microbiota and elevating arachidonic acid metabolism, which may produce multiple proinflammatory mediators. For ACS patients at low-to-medium risk of GIB, sufficient caution should be paid when acid-suppressant drugs are prescribed, especially PPIs.

REGISTRATION

www.chictr.org.cn/ (ChiCTR2000029552).

Hemorrhagic events associated with tacrolimus: a real-world pharmacovigilance study

BACKGROUND

Tacrolimus is a potent macrolide immunosuppressant frequently used to prevent graft rejection in organ transplantation. Despite the known side effect of hemorrhage, there are no extensive descriptive series of patients who experience hemorrhage events associated with tacrolimus. We sought to review and describe tacrolimus-related hemorrhage events reported by healthcare professionals to the United States Food and Drug Association Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.

METHODS

The FAERS database (2004q1-2022q4) was retrospectively analyzed to characterize reporting of hemorrhage adverse events (AEs) with tacrolimus. Subgroup analysis was completed on the hemorrhage.

RESULTS

A total of 75,310 tacrolimus-associated AEs were identified, of which 1,511 cases met specific inclusion/exclusion criteria with most occurring in the gastrointestinal tract (422 cases, 27.93% of all included cases). Death was reported in 558 patients (36.93% of hemorrhage cases), the most of which occurred in cases of brain hemorrhage (219 cases, 39.25% of death cases). Among definitive organ transplants, renal transplant was the most common indication for tacrolimus (62 cases, 4.10%) followed by bone marrow transplant (44 cases, 2.91%) and liver transplant (30 cases, 1.99%).

CONCLUSIONS

This study presents the largest collective description of tacrolimus-related hemorrhage events. We additionally described a number of previously unreported tacrolimus-related hemorrhage events.

Proton pump inhibitors associated with an increased risk of mortality in elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

The increased use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in the elderly has raised concerns about potential severe adverse effects. Our systematic review investigated the mortality associated with PPI use in elderly populations.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for relevant publications until August 2022. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs, and observational studies on the association between proton pump inhibitors and mortality in the elderly. To estimate the pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), the inverse-variance random effect model was used. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 test. Subgroup analyses were performed by follow-up period, population, and study design.

RESULTS

A total of 4 RCTs and 36 cohort studies were included in the meta-analysis. Four RCTs showed that there was no significant association between PPIs and the risk of death. From 23 observational studies (26 cohorts), the use of proton pump inhibitors was not significantly associated with increased mortality in the elderly (RR 1.14; 95% CI, 0.90-1.45). However, when controlling for covariates from 33 observational studies (41 cohorts), proton pump inhibitors in older adults aged 50 years or more were significantly associated with a 15% higher risk of mortality compared to nonusers (RR 1.15; 95% CI, 1.10-1.20).

CONCLUSIONS

Our meta-analysis of RCTs found that PPIs did not show a significant association with increased mortality risk in older adults. However, the meta-analysis of cohort studies and long-term follow-up studies showed a higher increased risk of death with PPI use in older adults. The prescription of PPIs in patients aged 50 years or older should be carefully considered.

Performance of the HAS-BLED, ORBIT, and ATRIA Bleeding Risk Scores on a Cohort of 399 344 Hospitalized Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Cancer: Data From the French National Hospital Discharge Database

Background The association between cancer types and specific bleeding events in patients with atrial fibrillation has been scarcely investigated. Also, the performance of bleeding risk scores in this high-risk subgroup of patients is unclear. We investigated the rate of any bleeding, intracranial hemorrhage, major bleeding, and gastrointestinal bleeding according to cancer types in patients with atrial fibrillation. We also tested the predictive value of HAS-BLED, ATRIA, and ORBIT bleeding risk scores. Methods and Results Observational retrospective cohort study including hospitalized patients with atrial fibrillation and cancer from the French National Hospital Discharge Database (Programme de Medicalisation des Systemes d'Information) from January 2010 to December 2019. Major bleeding was defined according to Bleeding Academic Research Consortium definitions. Patients with HAS-BLED ≥3, ATRIA ≥5, or ORBIT ≥4 were classified as at high bleeding risk. Receiver operating characteristic analysis for each score against any bleeding, major bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, and intracranial hemorrhage was performed. Areas under the curve (AUCs) were then compared. We included 399 344 patients. Mean age was 77.9±10.2 years, and 63.2% were men. The highest intracranial hemorrhage rates were found in leukemia (1.89%/year), myeloma (1.52%/year), lymphoma and liver (1.45%/year), and pancreas cancer (1.41%/year). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that ORBIT score predicted best for any bleeding. In addition, ORBIT score ≥4 had the highest predictivity for major bleeding (AUC, 0.805), followed by HAS-BLED ≥3 and ATRIA ≥5 (AUCs, 0.716 and 0.700, respectively). HAS-BLED and ORBIT performed best for intracranial hemorrhage (AUCs, 0.744 and 0.742 for continuous scores, respectively), better than ATRIA (AUC, 0.635). For gastrointestinal bleeding, ORBIT ≥4 had the highest predictivity (AUC, 0.756), followed by the HAS-BLED ≥3 (AUC, 0.702) and ATRIA ≥5 (AUC, 0.662). Conclusions Some cancer types carry a greater bleeding risk in patients with atrial fibrillation. The identification and management of modifiable bleeding risk factors is crucial in these patients, as well as to flag up high bleeding risk patients for early review and follow-up.

Location of death among patients presenting with cardiovascular disease to the emergency department in the United states

BACKGROUND

In-hospital deaths are an important outcome and little is known about deaths in the emergency department (ED). Among patients who died of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), we assessed causes of death, temporal trends and the relative distribution of deaths in the ED versus hospital.

METHODS

Using the United States Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, we conducted a retrospective study of patients presenting to the ED with a primary diagnosis of CVD between 2006 and 2014. We used descriptive statistics to describe causes of deaths, temporal trends and location of death.

RESULTS

During the study period, there were 27 144 508 visits to the ED with CVD diagnoses (~2% of all ED visits,). The most common CVD diagnoses were heart failure (n = 8 571 598), acute myocardial infarction (n = 4 827 518) and atrial fibrillation/flutter (n = 4 713 241). There were a total of 2.2 million deaths caused by the CVD, with the majority (57.6%) occurring in the ED. Cardiac arrest was the most common cause of in-hospital death (n = 1 225 095, 55.3%), followed by acute myocardial infarction (n = 279 310, 12.6%), heart failure (n = 217 367, 9.8%), intracranial hemorrhage (n = 168 009, 7.6%) and ischemic stroke (n = 151 615, 6.8%). The proportion of deaths in the ED for these causes were 91.9% cardiac arrest (n = 1 173 471), 3.6% acute myocardial infarction (n = 46 909), 1.0% heart failure (n = 12 599) and 1.1% intracranial hemorrhage (n = 13 579). There was a decrease in death for most CVDs over time.

CONCLUSIONS

Inpatient CVD admissions and their associated death may not be a robust measure of the national burden of CVD since ED death-which are common for some conditions-are not captured.

Direct oral anticoagulants and advanced liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are recommended for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or for treatment of deep vein thrombosis, although some concerns about safety and efficacy were raised on the use of these drugs in patients with advanced liver disease (ALD). We want to investigate the association of DOACs use with the bleeding and ischaemic risk.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We performed a systematic review and metanalysis of clinical studies retrieved from PubMed (via MEDLINE) and Cochrane (CENTRAL) databases addressing the impact of DOACs therapy on bleeding events including intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), gastrointestinal and major bleeding. Secondary end points were all-cause death, ischaemic stroke/systemic embolism (IS/SE) and recurrence/progression of vein thrombosis (rDVT).

RESULTS

12 studies were included in the meta-analysis: a total of 43 532 patients with ALD or cirrhosis, of whom 27 574 (63.3%) were on treatment with DOACs and 15 958 were in warfarin/low molecular weight heparin. DOACs reduced the incidence of major bleeding by 61% (pooled Hazard Ratio [HR] 0.39, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.21-0.70), ICH by 52% (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.40-0.59), while no difference in the reduction of any and gastrointestinal bleeding were observed. DOACs reduced also rDVT by 82% (HR 0.18, 95%CI 0.06-0.57), but did not reduce death and IS/SE. No difference was shown according to oesophageal varices and Child Pugh score in the meta-regression analysis between warfarin/heparin and DOACs performed on each outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

DOACs are associated with a lower incidence of bleeding and may be an attractive therapeutic option in patients with cirrhosis.