As Brazil is inserting itself in the international community of Cardiovascular Surgery for its full recognition, some steps need to be taken to reach the quality standards of first world countries.
The introduction of the Brazilian Registry of Cardiovascular Surgery, for while in adults, shows a long-standing need which is important to know the reality of the country and develop strategies to deploy advances in quality and excellence.
The project is an initiative of the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery (BSCVS) and aims to document the practice of Cardiovascular Surgeries across the country, involving all Brazilian centers dedicated to specialty, including public hospitals (university and non-university) and also private ones. Surgical procedures included in the registry are: Myocardial Revascularization (open and endovascular), Aortic valve replacement (open and transcatheter), Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiac Transplantation, Mechanical Circulatory Assistance (from insertion of intra-aortic balloon to artificial heart) and Congenital heart defects in adults (> 18 years).
We are going to create a database of clinical parameters of patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery in Brazil, involving the collection of standardized data among hospitals that perform these procedures. The study will follow the patients until discharge, extending the periods of 30 days, 6 months and 12 months for evaluation of major cardiovascular events.
The work will require effort, dedication and willingness of the participating centers and those responsible for data collection, since the project will be solely funded by BSCVS with budget constraints.
We will collect the complete demographics of patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery in the participating hospitals, followed by data from the surgery and postoperative outcomes, including mortality. Data will be collected by local monitors of the participating centers and transmitted to a secure database located in the Hcor Institute of Education and Research in Sao Paulo.
The stored data will be confidential (only the institution will have access to its information) and analyzed together to develop best practices in cardiovascular surgery in Brazilian hospitals, and assist in improving the quality of patient care through the development of statistical models analysis of risk factors, striving for excellence in results.
In addition, the project aims to assess incidences of cardiovascular events and to obtain new data on quality of life in the short, medium and long term; identifying predictors of events that enable the development of risk scores. Interpretation of the data will document the current clinical practice, and adherence to evidence-based (Medical Guidelines) therapies. It will also serve to plan future programs to improve medical-surgical practice; comparing data from different countries and hospitals to optimize the results. As a byproduct, the information collected will allow the design of new studies and optimization of available resources.
In short, the project: Brazilian Registry of Cardiovascular Surgery in Adults is a resource that was already imperative, but now appears as a reality with the participation of all the cardiovascular community. It is definitely filling the gap that separates us from the first world countries.