The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database: 2016 Update on Research

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database (STS CHSD) is the largest congenital and pediatric cardiac surgical clinical data registry in the world. With more than 400,000 total operations from nearly all centers performing pediatric and congenital heart operations in North America, the STS CHSD is an unparalleled platform for clinical investigation, outcomes research, and quality improvement activities in this subspecialty. In 2015, several major original publications reported analyses of data in the CHSD pertaining to specific diagnostic and procedural groups, age-defined cohorts, or the entire population of patients in the database. Additional publications reported the most recent development, evaluation, and application of metrics for quality measurement and reporting of pediatric and congenital heart operation outcomes. This use of the STS CHSD for outcomes research and for quality measurement continues to expand as database participation and the available wealth of data in it continue to grow. This article reviews outcomes research and quality improvement articles published in 2015 based on STS CHSD data.