Heart attack patients admitted while the nation’s top cardiologists were away at the conferences were less likely to receive coronary angioplasty, but there was no affect on mortality, according to the study.
The editors note some high-risk interventions are used in situations that have not shown improved outcomes and there are high rates of fatal complications associated with these procedures. This suggests more cardiac interventions could lead to higher patient mortality rates, according to the editors.
For the study, researchers looked at 30-day mortality of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for cardiac issues during the spring and fall national cardiology meetings from 2002 to 2011. These rates were compared to those of nonmeeting days three weeks before and after conferences.
Cardiac mortality was not affected by hospitalization during other specialty conferences and mortality from noncardiac complications was not affected by cardiology conferences, according to the report.
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