The hvtiPlotR package

hvtiPlotR packages the ggplot2 themes and plot functions we use in Cardiovascular Outcomes Registries and Research (CORR) at the Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institute. If you are migrating from the plot.sas macro, this is its R successor.

Quick Start

Install from GitHub using remotes:

remotes::install_github("ehrlinger/hvtiPlotR")

Apply an HVI theme to a ggplot2 figure in one line:

library(ggplot2)
library(hvtiPlotR)

ggplot(mtcars, aes(wt, mpg, colour = factor(cyl))) +
  geom_point() +
  theme_hv_manuscript()

Export the result directly to an editable PowerPoint slide. A small dark CORR template ships with the package, so you can save without supplying your own:

p <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(wt, mpg)) + geom_point() + theme_hv_ppt_dark()

save_ppt(
  object     = p,
  template   = system.file("extdata", "hv_ppt_template.pptx", package = "hvtiPlotR"),
  powerpoint = "outputs/figure1.pptx"
)

Themes

Four themes cover the publication contexts we use. Each follows the theme_bw() contract — pass base_size / base_family, or chain + theme(...), to override anything:

Theme	Best for
theme_hv_manuscript()	Journal figures, white background
theme_hv_poster()	Conference posters
theme_hv_ppt_dark()	Dark-background PowerPoint slides (black panel, white text)
theme_hv_ppt_light()	Light/transparent PowerPoint slides

p + theme_hv_manuscript()   # journal figure
p + theme_hv_ppt_dark()     # dark PPT slide
p + theme_hv_ppt_light()    # light PPT slide
p + theme_hv_poster()       # poster

The two PPT themes default to Arial 32 Bold axis tick labels and Arial 40 Bold axis titles, matching the standard CORR slide deck.

The earlier alias functions — theme_man(), theme_ppt(), theme_dark_ppt(), theme_light_ppt(), theme_poster(), and the hv_theme_*() family — still work but are deprecated (one-time warning); prefer the theme_hv_*() names above. The old hv_theme("...") string dispatcher has been removed.

Plot Function Gallery

hvtiPlotR 2.0 uses a two-step API. A constructor (hv_*()) shapes the data and returns an S3 object; plot() renders a bare ggplot. Add scale_*, labs(), annotate(), and a theme with the usual + operator.

km <- hv_survival(sample_survival_data())
plot(km) + theme_hv_manuscript()
km$tables$risk                         # risk-table data frame

Propensity Score & Balance

Constructor	Description
hv_mirror_hist()	Mirrored histograms showing propensity score distributions for two groups, before and after matching or IPTW weighting
hv_stacked()	Stacked or proportional-fill histogram of a numeric variable by group
hv_balance()	Standardised mean difference dot-plot for assessing propensity matching or weighting quality

mh <- hv_mirror_hist(sample_mirror_histogram_data(n = 2000),
                  group_labels = c("SAVR", "TF-TAVR"))
plot(mh) + theme_hv_manuscript()

Survival & Time-to-Event

Constructor	Description
hv_survival()	Kaplan-Meier and Nelson-Aalen analysis. plot(km, type = ...) renders survival, cumulative hazard, hazard, log-log, or life/RMST; tables via km$tables
hv_nonparametric()	Nonparametric survival or event-rate curve with optional confidence intervals
hv_ordinal()	Nonparametric curves for ordinal outcomes (e.g. severity grades)
hv_hazard()	Parametric hazard/survival curves from Weibull or other models, with optional KM overlay
hv_survival_difference()	Absolute treatment benefit vs. a reference group over time
hv_nnt()	Number needed to treat derived from survival difference estimates
hv_followup()	Goodness-of-follow-up scatter: actual vs. potential follow-up by operation year; plot(gf, type = "event") for non-fatal competing events

Longitudinal & Repeated Measures

Constructor	Description
hv_trends()	Temporal trend: annual means/medians with LOESS smooth, by group
hv_spaghetti()	Individual subject trajectories over time with optional per-group LOESS overlay
hv_longitudinal()	Pre-aggregated patient and measurement counts; plot(lc, type = "table") for text table

Exploratory & Multivariate

Constructor	Description
hv_eda()	Exploratory plot for a single variable. Auto-detects type: scatter + LOESS for continuous, stacked bar for categorical. Missing values shown as "(Missing)"
hv_upset()	UpSet diagram for visualising procedure co-occurrences or set memberships
hv_alluvial()	Sankey/alluvial diagram for patient flow across categorical stages
hv_sankey()	Cluster stability Sankey showing patient transitions across cluster solutions

Utilities

Function	Description
theme_hv_manuscript() / theme_hv_poster() / theme_hv_ppt_dark() / theme_hv_ppt_light()	The four publication themes — see Themes
save_ppt()	Export a ggplot to an editable PowerPoint slide using an HVI template; panel_box = list(width = ..., height = ..., left = ..., top = ...) (on by default) anchors the panel content area to the same slide coordinates on every slide
hv_ggsave_dims()	Compute ggsave() width/height that preserve a target panel content area regardless of axis-label, legend, or title size
hv_ph_location()	Compute officer::ph_location() args so a ggplot's panel lands at a fixed slide rectangle — the per-slide worker that save_ppt(panel_box=) calls
make_footnote()	Add a footnote annotation to the current figure

Vignettes

Five vignettes ship with the package. After installation, call any of them from the R console:

vignette("hvtiPlotR",           package = "hvtiPlotR")  # package tutorial: generating plot.sas-style figures in R
vignette("sas-migration-guide", package = "hvtiPlotR")  # SAS template -> hvtiPlotR migration mapping
vignette("plot-functions",      package = "hvtiPlotR")  # per-function reference with worked examples
vignette("plot-decorators",     package = "hvtiPlotR")  # composition: scale_*, labs(), themes, saving
vignette("contributing",        package = "hvtiPlotR")  # guide for adding new plot functions

The online reference is at https://ehrlinger.github.io/hvtiPlotR/.

Slides

A short PowerPoint presentation covering the v2.x redesign (the two-step S3 API, renamed theme functions, and save_ppt(panel_box =)) ships with the package as a Quarto source file:

system.file("slides/hvtiPlotR-whats-new.qmd", package = "hvtiPlotR")

Render it to .pptx with quarto render or quarto::quarto_render(). The slides condense what you will find in vignette("plot-decorators") and vignette("hvtiPlotR").

Migrating from plot.sas

If you are moving existing SAS analyses to R, the SAS migration vignette (vignette("sas-migration-guide")) maps each plot.sas macro call to its R equivalent.

The inst/plot.README and inst/plot.sas files are preserved for historical reference.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide, which covers:

• Track A — porting a SAS template (for biostatisticians and analysts adding a new plot function or sample-data generator)
• Track B — package infrastructure (for R developers working on dependencies, CI, testing, and CRAN compliance)

Quick-start:

devtools::install_deps(dependencies = TRUE)
devtools::load_all()
devtools::check()

Open an issue to discuss a new port before writing code, and tag @ehrlinger for review on all pull requests.

Code of Conduct

This project follows the Contributor Covenant code of conduct.