The following is a summary of “Association Between Remote Monitoring and Interstage Morbidity and Death in Patients With Single‐Ventricle Heart Disease Across Socioeconomic Groups,” published in the November 2023 issue of Cardiology by Cherestal et al.

Despite advancements in survival rates, infants born with single‐ventricle heart disease continue to face high mortality rates, especially those from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. This study aimed to assess whether implementing the Cardiac High Acuity Monitoring Program, a pioneering remote monitoring initiative, could potentially reduce outcome disparities across SES categories.

A cohort of 610 infants from 11 medical centers enrolled in the Cardiac High Acuity Monitoring Program between 2014 and 2021 was analyzed. Families in the program had access to a mobile application enabling rapid transfer of patient data to the healthcare team. The infants were categorized into SES tertiles based on six SES-related variables. Hierarchical logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders, was employed to evaluate the correlation between SES and adverse events like death or transplant listing during the interstage period. Among the 610 infants, 39 (6.4%) either died or were listed for transplant. Initial unadjusted analysis showed comparable rates of the primary outcome across SES tertiles (P=0.24). Even after adjusting for multiple variables, no substantial differences were observed in the likelihood of death or transplant listing among infants in the middle (odds ratio, 1.7 [95% CI, 0.73–3.94]) or highest (odds ratio, 0.997 [95% CI, 0.30, 3.36]) SES tertile compared to those in the lowest SES tertile (overall P value 0.4).

In conclusion, SES did not significantly impact outcomes in a comprehensive multicenter study of infants with single-ventricle heart disease utilizing a digital remote monitoring program during the interstage period. These findings suggest that the application of innovative technology might aid in minimizing outcome differences among this vulnerable patient population.

Source: ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.123.031069