[Risk management for congenital heart surgery]

There have been recent improvements in the outcome of congenital heart surgery. However, much risk still remains because cardiac surgery itself is not always safe and because the postoperative care of children is very complicated. Accurate risk evaluation is therefore crucial for effective risk management. This study focuses on the database in relation to risk management. A database is essential for assessing the risk of each procedure and for providing patients with accurate information. Two well-known indices based on the databases of congenital heart surgery in the United States and Europe exist for predicting preoperative risk; risk adjustment for congenital heart surgery 1 (RACHS 1) and the Aristotle score. They offer reliable preoperative assessments of the risks of each procedure, but there is still room for improvement. No database for congenital heart surgery existed in Japan until this year.