ESPAMACS: el nuevo Registro Español de Asistencia Mecánica Circulatoria

ESPAMACS is the new Spanish Registry for Mechanical Circulatory Support that has been created within the Working Group on Mechanical Circulatory Support and Heart Transplantation of the Spanish Society of Thoracic-Cardiovascular Surgery (GRUTAT-SECTCV), with the aim of registering all the short- and long-term support devices implanted in Spain. Technically, it is an on-line database that allows users to enter data in real time from any place with Internet access. It has been operational since October 2014, replacing the previous Microsoft Excel database that collected data between 2007 and 2012. In the present article, the need for a registry like this is justified as it is based on the current scenario of the treatment of end-stage heart failure, characterised by the progression of mechanical circulatory support and the limited availability of heart transplantation. The features and operating mode of ESPAMACS are also described: ownership, access mode, planning and development, funding, aims, ethical aspects, requirements for participation, patient selection, approved devices, design, registered variables, data acquisition system for statistical analysis and subsequent conducting of scientific studies, and quality control.