AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightThe HATCH score, originally developed to predict atrial fibrillation progression, reflects overall comorbidity burden.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
Aims: Mid-term mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains a significant clinical challenge, and simple tools for mid-term risk stratification are limited. The HATCH score, originally developed to predict atrial fibrillation progression, reflects overall comorbidity burden. We investigated its association with mid-term all-cause mortality after CABG and compared its prognostic performance with European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II (EuroSCORE II). Methods: This retrospective single-center cohort study included 472 consecutive patients who underwent isolated CABG. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality during follow-up. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed, and three separate models were constructed incorporating clinical variables, the HATCH score, or EuroSCORE II. Discriminative performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis and Harrell’s Concordance Index (C-Index). Survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis according to HATCH categories (<2 vs. ≥2). Results: During a mean follow-up of 603±258 days, 55 patients (11.7%) died. The HATCH score was independently associated with mortality (HR 1.740, 95% CI 1.410-2.148; p<0.001). Its discriminative ability was numerically higher than that of EuroSCORE II (AUC 0.705 vs. 0.676), although the difference was not statistically significant (DeLong test, p=0.483), while the HATCH-based model showed the highest C-Index (0.795). Patients with a HATCH score ≥2 had significantly lower survival (log-rank p<0.001). Conclusion: The HATCH score independently predicted mortality after CABG, with discrimination comparable to EuroSCORE II. Given its simplicity, it may serve as a practical adjunct to existing risk-stratification tools for identifying patients at increased mid-term risk.