1. Date of download: 6/25/2016 Copyright © The American College of Cardiology. All rights reserved. From: Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(14):1398-1408. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.01.048 Readmissions at 30 Days After the End of Hospitalizations for Carotid Revascularization Procedures Patients undergoing carotid revascularization were disproportionately at risk for readmission in the first week after the end of hospitalization, with 44.3% of all admissions occurring within 1 week of discharge. However, they remained at risk for readmission throughout the 30-day period. Figure Legend:

2. Date of download: 6/25/2016 Copyright © The American College of Cardiology. All rights reserved. From: Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(14):1398-1408. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.01.048 Most Common Principal Discharge Diagnoses Associated With Readmissions Following Carotid Interventions Patients were readmitted with a wide range of diagnoses, with no single diagnosis contributing to more than 10% of readmissions. However, cerebral complications including ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, and cerebral hemorrhage were collectively responsible for 10.7% of readmissions. Figure Legend:

3. Date of download: 6/25/2016 Copyright © The American College of Cardiology. All rights reserved. From: Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(14):1398-1408. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.01.048 Distribution of the Most Common Diagnoses Associated With Readmission at 30 Days Over Days 0 to 7, 8 to 15, and 16 to 30 Some readmission diagnoses varied over time. For instance, complications of care, heart failure, and acute stroke were more often encountered during the first week following hospitalization. In contrast, other peripheral vascular diseases, chronic angina and coronary artery disease were more common in the third and fourth week following hospitalization. Figure Legend:

4. Date of download: 6/25/2016 Copyright © The American College of Cardiology. All rights reserved. From: Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(14):1398-1408. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.01.048 Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population The risk for readmission was significantly greater among patients undergoing carotid artery stenting (CAS) compared with patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) (top: CAS, blue line; CEA, salmon line). However, the risk-standardized readmission rates (RSRRs) of hospitals that used CAS more frequently were comparable to those of hospitals that performed CAS less frequently (bottom). Figure Legend:

5. Date of download: 6/25/2016 Copyright © The American College of Cardiology. All rights reserved. From: Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(14):1398-1408. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.01.048 Forest Plot of Odds Ratios for Risk Factors Associated With Readmission at 30 Days A wide range of demographic characteristics and baseline comorbidities were associated with an increased risk for readmission, most notably, age, female sex, non-Caucasian race, symptomatic carotid stenosis, diabetes, congestive heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, and ischemic stroke. Figure Legend:

6. Date of download: 6/25/2016 Copyright © The American College of Cardiology. All rights reserved. From: Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(14):1398-1408. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.01.048 Distribution of Hospital-Specific RSRRs at 30 Days After Carotid Revascularization Procedures There was modest hospital-level variation in 30-day risk-standardized readmission rates (RSRRs) (median: 9.5%; interquartile range: 9.2% to 10.0%). Figure Legend:

7. Date of download: 6/25/2016 Copyright © The American College of Cardiology. All rights reserved. From: Readmissions After Carotid Artery Revascularization in the Medicare Population J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(14):1398-1408. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.01.048 Distribution of Hospital Proportional CAS Use A total of 38% of the hospitals did not perform a carotid artery stenting (CAS) procedure, and among hospitals that performed both carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and CAS, the proportional use of CAS varied widely. Figure Legend: