Dataset Information

Severe Hyperkalemia: Can the Electrocardiogram Risk Stratify for Short-term Adverse Events?

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is often used to identify which hyperkalemic patients are at risk for adverse events. However, there is a paucity of evidence to support this practice. This study analyzes the association between specific hyperkalemic ECG abnormalities and the development of short-term adverse events in patients with severe hyperkalemia.

Methods

We collected records of all adult patients with potassium (K+) ?6.5 mEq/L in the hospital laboratory database from August 15, 2010, through January 30, 2015. A chart review identified patient demographics, concurrent laboratory values, ECG within one hour of K+ measurement, treatments and occurrence of adverse events within six hours of ECG. We defined adverse events as symptomatic bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and/or death. Two emergency physicians blinded to study objective independently examined each ECG for rate, rhythm, peaked T wave, PR interval duration and QRS complex duration. Relative risk was calculated to determine the association between specific hyperkalemic ECG abnormalities and short-term adverse events.

Results

We included a total of 188 patients with severe hyperkalemia in the final study group. Adverse events occurred within six hours in 28 patients (15%): symptomatic bradycardia (n=22), death (n=4), ventricular tachycardia (n=2) and CPR (n=2). All adverse events occurred prior to treatment with calcium and all but one occurred prior to K⁺-lowering intervention. All patients who had a short-term adverse event had a preceding ECG that demonstrated at least one hyperkalemic abnormality (100%, 95% confidence interval [CI] [85.7-100%]). An increased likelihood of short-term adverse event was found for hyperkalemic patients whose ECG demonstrated QRS prolongation (relative risk [RR] 4.74, 95% CI [2.01-11.15]), bradycardia (HR<50) (RR 12.29, 95%CI [6.69-22.57]), and/or junctional rhythm (RR 7.46, 95%CI 5.28-11.13). There was no statistically significant correlation between peaked T waves and short-term adverse events (RR 0.77, 95% CI [0.35-1.70]).

Conclusion

Our findings support the use of the ECG to risk stratify patients with severe hyperkalemia for short-term adverse events.

SUBMITTER: Durfey N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5576635 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Severe Hyperkalemia: Can the Electrocardiogram Risk Stratify for Short-term Adverse Events?

Durfey Nicole N Lehnhof Brian B Bergeson Andrew A Durfey Shayla N M SNM Leytin Victoria V McAteer Kristina K Schwam Eric E Valiquet Justin J

The western journal of emergency medicine 20170710 5

<h4>Introduction</h4>The electrocardiogram (ECG) is often used to identify which hyperkalemic patients are at risk for adverse events. However, there is a paucity of evidence to support this practice. This study analyzes the association between specific hyperkalemic ECG abnormalities and the development of short-term adverse events in patients with severe hyperkalemia.<h4>Methods</h4>We collected records of all adult patients with potassium (K+) ≥6.5 mEq/L in the hospital laboratory database fro ...[more]

PMID: 28874951

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Project description:BackgroundOpioids are a leading cause of adverse drug events in the hospital. Guidelines recommend that physicians assess the risks of opioids and discuss them with patients when considering opioid use. There are no studies examining patient- and prescribing-related risk factors for opioid-related adverse drug events (ORADEs) in hospitalized medical patients.ObjectiveTo identify independent risk factors for severe ORADEs in hospitalized medical patients.DesignRetrospective cohort study.PatientsMedical patients hospitalized at US, non-federal, and acute care facilities, with at least one pharmacy charge for an opioid during hospitalization. We excluded patients with metastatic malignancy, hospice, or palliative care billing codes.Main measuresWe used Cox proportional hazards modeling to identify risk factors for severe ORADEs, defined by a pharmacy charge for naloxone. Candidate risk factors were chosen a priori, based on clinical grounds and prior literature.Key resultsAmong 731,208 hospitalizations (median age 60, 56.5% female), a severe ORADE occurred in 2727 (0.4%). Independent risk factors included patient characteristics (advanced age, female gender), comorbidities (congestive heart failure, opioid abuse/dependence, non-opioid drug abuse/dependence, psychosis, depression, obstructive sleep apnea), organ failures on admission (respiratory failure, shock/hypotension, renal failure, hepatic failure, acidosis, and neurologic failure), medication co-administrations (antipsychotics and short-acting benzodiazepines), and characteristics of the opioid prescriptions themselves (total dose for the day, parenteral route of administration, and receipt of multiple types of opioids in a day). Although a risk prediction model derived from these factors performed well on stratified k-fold cross-validation (average c-statistics 0.68-0.71), the low incidence of the outcome limited the positive predictive value of the risk score.ConclusionsIn this national cohort of medical patients, we identified several risk factors for ORADEs that can be used to inform physician decision-making, conversations with patients about risk, and development and targeting of harm reduction strategies for at-risk populations.

Dataset Information

Severe Hyperkalemia: Can the Electrocardiogram Risk Stratify for Short-term Adverse Events?

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Severe Hyperkalemia: Can the Electrocardiogram Risk Stratify for Short-term Adverse Events?

Similar Datasets

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