Abstract 10109: High Prevalence and Significant Impact of Arrhythmias on Healthcare Resource Utilization in Hospitalizations of Patients with Prior (corrected) Congenital Heart/Circulatory Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Even after surgical correction, adults with a previously corrected Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) may remain at a significantly elevated risk of arrhythmias. However, there is not much known about the prevalence, comorbidity burden, and impact of arrhythmia in these patients. Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample (2015 Oct-2017), adult admissions with previously corrected CHD were identified. The primary outcome was the prevalence of arrhythmia and secondary outcomes included comorbidities and outcomes between the arrhythmic vs. non-arrhythmic cohort. Results: Of 19,395 admissions with previously corrected CHD, 7675 (39.6%) patients experienced arrhythmias [median age 55 (39-68) years, male 51.7%, white 75%] (Table 1). The arrhythmic cohort often consisted of relatively older, male, white patients and had higher rates of hypertension (56.4% vs. 41%), hyperlipidemia (33.1% vs. 23%), diabetes (9% vs. 6.5%), renal failure (14% vs. 7.8%), and congestive heart failure (17.6% vs. 9.2%) compared to the non-arrhythmic cohort. The arrhythmic cohort had a higher frequency of patients with at least one CVD risk factor (75.5% vs. 65.4%). All-cause mortality was non-significantly higher in the cohort with arrhythmia (1.6% vs. 1.3%). Furthermore, the arrhythmic cohort was less often routinely discharged and had more frequent transfers/home healthcare requirements, prolonged hospital stay, and higher hospital charges. Conclusions: Nearly 40% of admissions among patients with a prior history of surgically corrected CHD experienced arrhythmias which were associated with a considerably higher comorbidity burden and healthcare resource utilization with non-significantly higher all-cause mortality.