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..