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 adopted at the Annual Meeting of the EACTS in Glasgow, UK on September 6, 1999. This nomenclature was achieved following 1 year's work of the International Nomenclature and Data Base Committee for Congenital Heart Surgery of the 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 includes a minimal data set of 21 items and lists of 150 diagnoses, 200 procedures, 32 complications and 28 extra cardiac anomalies and preoperative risk factors. It will serve as a basis for the Pediatric European Cardiac Surgical Registry (http://www.pediatric. ecsur.org). The outcome of such an International Nomenclature represents an important event for the medical community in charge of treating patients with congenital heart diseases. It will allow scientific exchanges on an international scale and promote multicenter evaluation of congenital heart surgery. Nevertheless, this Nomenclature is only the first step. Further collection of validated data at the Pediatric ECSUR Data Base requires ethical belief, time consumption and financial resources. Comparison of results, according to pathologies, across centers and countries will help define, in the future, official European standards of Quality of Care available for health care organizations, public scrutiny and governmental agencies.