Presentation of the International Nomenclature for Congenital Heart Surgery. The long way from nomenclature to collection of validated data at the EACTS

An International Nomenclature for Congenital Heart Surgery was officially a dopted at the Annual Meeting of the EACTS in Glasgow, UK on September 6, 19 99. This nomenclature was achieved following 1 year's work of the Internati onal Nomenclature and Data Base Committee for Congenital Heart Surgery of t he Society of Thoracic Surgeons. This international group included members from the STS, AATS, AHA and EACTS and associated surgeons and cardiologists from United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. The Nomenclature include s a minimal data set of 21 items and lists of 150 diagnoses, 200 procedures , 32 complications and 28 extra cardiac anomalies and preoperative risk fac tors. It will serve as a basis for the Pediatric European Cardiac Surgical Registry (http://www.pediatric.ecsur.org). The outcome of such an Internati onal Nomenclature represents an important event for the medical community i n charge of treating patients with congenital heart diseases. It will allow scientific exchanges on an international scale and promote multicenter eva luation of congenital heart surgery. Nevertheless, this Nomenclature is onl y the first step. Further collection of validated data at the Pediatric ECS UR Data Base requires ethical belief, time consumption and financial resour ces. Comparison of results, according to pathologies, across centers and co untries will help define, in the future, official European standards of Qua lity of Care available for health care organizations, public scrutiny and g overnmental agencies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.