Thanks to enormous progress in early detection and treatment, a congenital heart defect is no longer a death sentence. Most patients reach adulthood with a comparatively high quality of life because this most common of all organ malformations can be treated well if detected in time. What do the catheter interventions and operations required for this in Germany accomplish? This is the question being investigated by the project group "National Quality Assurance for Congenital Heart Defects" (Nationale Qualitätssicherung angeborene Herzfehler), an association of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (DGTHG) and the German Society for Pediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Defects (DGPK).

46,700 Interventions Evaluated

The results of the first long-term study of cardiac surgery and catheter interventions data collected nationwide as part of the National Quality Assurance are now available. The scientists of the two cardiology societies evaluated a total of 46,700 therapeutic interventions in 35,730 patients at 31 German cardiac centers from 2013 to 2018.

Medical data from newborns, infants, children and adults from an observation period of up to 90 days after each intervention were taken into account. The result: catheter interventions were successful in more than 99 percent of patients. For open-heart surgery, the rate was 98 percent. Even more complex interventions involving multiple surgeries ensured safe survival in more than 90 percent of cases.

Important for Future Healthcare Developments

"Overall, it is evident over the entire six-year period that both interventional and surgical procedures for the treatment of congenital heart defects are performed in Germany with a high level of medical quality," says Professor Michael Hofbeck, DGPK study director of the National Quality Assurance Congenital Heart Defects. He added that the results of the evaluation are also of special importance for a number of future developments in healthcare. "They also enable us, for example, to make a valid estimate of future personnel requirements for highly specialized nursing staff," says the pediatric cardiologist.

More Patient Safety

Also, in view of the increasing number of adults with congenital heart defects, the project is a crucial building block for patient safety, explains DGTHG study director Dr. Andreas Beckmann: "It provides valuable facts on current therapy as well as useful information for the future, including the steadily growing collective of adults with congenital heart defects." Pseudonymized data collection plays a major role in this. It ensures the DSGVO-compliant long-term monitoring of treatment results, in the event of repeat hospitalizations and even a change of the treating center.