Differences of in-hospital outcomes within patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention at institutions with high versus low procedural volume: a report from the Japanese multicentre percutaneous coronary intervention registry

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the relationship between the prevalence of in-hospital complications and annual institutional patient volume in a population of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: Clinical data of patients receiving PCI between January 2010 and June 2015 were collected from 14 academic institutions in the Tokyo area and subsequently used for analysis. We employed multivariate hierarchical logistic regression models to determine the effect of institutional volume on several in-hospital outcomes, including in-hospital mortality and procedure-related complications. RESULTS: A total of 14 437 PCI cases were included and categorised as receiving intervention from either lower-volume (<200 procedures/year, n=6 hospitals) or higher-volume (≥200 procedures/year, n=8 hospitals) institutions. Clinical characteristics differed significantly between the two patient groups. Specifically, patients treated in higher-volume hospitals presented with increased comorbidities and complex coronary lesions. Unadjusted mortality and complication rate in lower-volume and higher-volume hospitals were 1.3% and 1.2% (p=0.0614) and 6.2% and 8.1% (p=0.001), respectively. However, multivariate hierarchical logistic regression models adjusting for differences in the patient characteristics demonstrated that institutional volume was not associated with adverse clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we observed no significant association between annual institutional volume and in-hospital outcomes within the contemporary PCI multicentre registry. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN R000005598.