RACHS-ANZ: A Modified Risk Adjustment in Congenital Heart Surgery Model for Outcome Surveillance in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Background Outcomes for pediatric cardiac surgery are commonly reported from international databases compiled from voluntary data submissions. Surgical outcomes for all children in a country or region are less commonly reported. We aimed to describe the bi-national population-based outcome for children undergoing cardiac surgery in Australia and New Zealand and determine whether the Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery ( RACHS ) classification could be used to create a model that accurately predicts in-hospital mortality in this population. Methods and Results The study was conducted in all children's hospitals performing cardiac surgery in Australia and New Zealand between January 2..