@article{512cb9170df340d084adfb2f529e1583,
title = "Aortic stenosis post-COVID-19: a mathematical model on waiting lists and mortality",
abstract = "Objectives To provide estimates for how different treatment pathways for the management of severe aortic stenosis (AS) may affect National Health Service (NHS) England waiting list duration and associated mortality. Design We constructed a mathematical model of the excess waiting list and found the closed-form analytic solution to that model. From published data, we calculated estimates for how the strategies listed under Interventions may affect the time to clear the backlog of patients waiting for treatment and the associated waiting list mortality. Setting The NHS in England. Participants Estimated patients with AS in England. Interventions (1) Increasing the capacity for the treatment of severe AS, (2) converting proportions of cases from surgery to transcatheter aortic valve implantation and (3) a combination of these two. Results In a capacitated system, clearing the backlog by returning to pre-COVID-19 capacity is not possible. A conversion rate of 50% would clear the backlog within 666 (533-848) days with 1419 (597-2189) deaths while waiting during this time. A 20% capacity increase would require 535 (434-666) days, with an associated mortality of 1172 (466-1859). A combination of converting 40% cases and increasing capacity by 20% would clear the backlog within a year (343 (281-410) days) with 784 (292-1324) deaths while awaiting treatment. Conclusion A strategy change to the management of severe AS is required to reduce the NHS backlog and waiting list deaths during the post-COVID-19 € recovery' period. However, plausible adaptations will still incur a substantial wait to treatment and many hundreds dying while waiting.",
keywords = "cardiology, COVID-19, valvular heart disease",
author = "Stickels, {Christian Philip} and Ramesh Nadarajah and Gale, {Chris P.} and Houyuan Jiang and Sharkey, {Kieran J.} and Ben Gibbison and Nick Holliman and Sara Lombardo and Lars Schewe and Matteo Sommacal and Louise Sun and Jonathan Weir-McCall and Katherine Cheema and Rudd, {James H. F.} and Mamas Mamas and Feryal Erhun",
note = "Funding Information: Funding This study was part funded by EPSRC Cambridge Centre for Mathematics of Information in Healthcare, grant number EP/T017961/1. None of the study funding sources had an impact on the design, data analysis, writing of or decision to publish this paper. Competing interests BG acknowledges grants not related to this project from the David Telling Charitable Trust, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, he additionally declared Associate Editorship of Anesthesia Journal, and being the chair DMSC for the COPIA Trial. All other authors confirm that they have no competing interests to declare. Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research. Patient consent for publication Not applicable. Funding Information: Acknowledgements We want to thank all the participants of the V-KEMS Study Group on {\textquoteleft}Modelling Solutions to the Impact of COVID-19 on Cardiovascular Waiting Lists{\textquoteright} that took place on February 2-4, 2021, for thought-provoking discussions. Our special thanks to Clare Merritt (Newton Gateway to Mathematics), whose help extended beyond the workshop and was crucial in completing this work, and to Alan Champneys who brought the group together in the first place. BG is supported by the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Bristol and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. JHFR is part-supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, the British Heart Foundation, HEFCE, the EPSRC Cambridge Centre for Mathematics of Information in Healthcare and the Wellcome Trust. Contributors MM proposed the initial workshop and designed the research question. MM, CPG, RN, BG and JHFR all helped to run said workshop as clinical experts. All members but KC and FE were involved in conceptualisation in the initial workshop. CPS, HJ, KJS and FE designed the model with clinical guidance from MM, CPG, RN, BG and JHFR. CPS performed data analysis. CPS, RN and FE drafted the initial manuscript. MM, CPG, BG, JHFR, NH, SL, LaSc, MS, LoSu, JW-M, KC provided critical interpretation and revision of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript. FE acts as the guarantor for the overall content. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.",
year = "2022",
month = jun,
day = "16",
doi = "10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059309",
language = "English",
volume = "12",
journal = "BMJ Open",
issn = "2044-6055",
publisher = "BMJ Publishing Group",
number = "6",
}