Readmissions
Readmissions (data only from the study hospital) were examined at
one-month post-hospital discharge. A total of 32 patients (21%) were
readmitted to the study hospital one month after hospital discharge.
There were 10 fewer readmissions from the cardiology department cohort
(11 patients versus 21 patients from the ED cohort), but this difference
was not statistically significant (p=0.684). Causes of readmission were
most commonly recurrent AF in both cohorts (43% for ED patients versus
46% for cardiology department patients) but included other causes, both
related and unrelated to the primary admission. It was interesting to
note that four patients were readmitted to the ED for other cardiac
causes (primarily CHF), but no such readmissions reached the cardiology
department. No thromboembolic events were reported. Two patients
returned due to anticoagulation issues: one due to a high
routinely-drawn INR with no reported bleeding and one due to a bleeding
event that required no medical intervention. Readmissions occurred after
a mean of 11 or 12 days (ED cohort and cardiology department cohort,
respectively) and lasted a mean of 3.1 and 3.8 days respectively. (Table
3)