The American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data Registry was the source of data for several research studies published in the final three months of 2015, including a study examining outcomes between certified and non-certified physicians, gender gaps in the use of oral anticoagulants, and appropriate use criteria.

Are There Differences in PCI Outcomes Between Certified and Non-Certified Physicians?1

Physicians who received interventional cardiology certification through the American Board of Internal Medicine had similar outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention as physicians without certification, according to a study published Sept. 18, 2015 in Circulation2. The study was the first to evaluate the impact of interventional certification on patient outcomes in the 15 years since certification began. Using data from the ACC's CathPCI Registry, researchers assessed records from 510,708 patients who had undergone PCI performed by 5,175 physicians in 2010. Researchers looked at all-cause in-hospital mortality and bleeding complications as primary endpoints and emergency coronary artery bypass grafting and vascular complications requiring therapy as secondary endpoints.

Women With Non-Valvular AFib Less Likely to Receive OAC Compared to Men3

Significant gender gaps exist in use of oral anticoagulants to treat patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, accord to new research from the ACC's PINNACLE Registry presented as part of the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando. Specifically, women with an indication for anticoagulation are less likely than men to have oral anticoagulants prescribed across all strata of risk. The study looked at approximately 700,000 patients diagnosed with non-valvular AFib and indication for oral anticoagulants between May 2008 and December 2014. Patients were distributed across all high thromboembolic risk strata, with 47.8 percent of them identified as female. The primary outcome was prescription of an oral anticoagulant, including warfarin or a novel oral anticoagulant like dabigatran, rivaroxaban or apixaban. Overall, the data showed fewer than one in three patients with an indication for an oral anticoagulant received one, with women 9 to 30 percent less likely to have an oral anticoagulant prescribed compared to men of similar thromboembolic risk. The researchers did note a rapid increase in the use of novel anticoagulants in both men (53.5 percent each year) and women (57 percent each year) for non-valvular atrial fibrillation since U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of dabigatran in 2010.