Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 19, 2026
Interventional Diagnostic Procedure: A Practical Guide for the Assessment of Coronary Vascular Function
Published on: March 15, 2022
Quality assessment in percutaneous coronary interventions: the QERMID Belgian PCI registry
Claude Hanet1, Marc J Claeys2, Marc Carlier3
1a Department of Cardiology , CHU UCL Namur, Mont-Godinne , Yvoir , Belgium.
Insights
New percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) centers show similar patient outcomes and complication rates compared to established centers. This suggests that increased experience in historical PCI centers is not a significant factor in patient safety.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Interventional Cardiology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- A recent surge in interventional catheterization laboratories (cathlabs) has led to more percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).
- This increase may dilute the experience of individual centers and operators.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare patient characteristics and outcomes between newly approved (<3 years) and historical PCI centers.
- To assess the impact of center experience on PCI safety and efficacy.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the national "Quality Oriented Electronic Registration of Medical Implant Devices" (QERMID) database.
- Compared patients treated in 21 new PCI centers versus 28 historical PCI centers in 2015.
Main Results:
- New centers had a slightly higher proportion of acute coronary syndromes (48% vs. 44%).
- No significant differences were observed in in-hospital or 30-day mortality between new and historical centers for both acute coronary syndromes and stable ischemia.
- A substantial proportion of patients (39%) with stable angina or silent ischemia lacked pre-PCI ischemia confirmation, with no difference between center types.
Conclusions:
- Despite limitations of the QERMID database, no significant difference in major complication rates was found between new and historical Belgian PCI centers.
- This suggests that newly established PCI centers can achieve comparable safety outcomes to historical centers.
Background:
The recent increase in the number of interventional cathlabs that followed a moratorium of several years has resulted in an abrupt increase in the number of PCI and a dilution of the experience per centre and per operator.
Methods:
Based on data extracted from the national "Quality Oriented Electronic Registration of Medical Implant Devices" (QERMID) database, we compared the characteristics and outcome of patients treated in 2015 in the 21 newly (<3 years) approved PCI centres with those of patients treated in the 28 historical PCI centres.
Results:
The proportion of acute coronary syndromes was slightly higher in new than in historical centres (48% vs. 44%; p < 0.01) but few differences in co-morbidities were observed. Considering separately the patients treated for an acute coronary syndrome or for stable ischaemia, no significant difference in the overall in-hospital or 30-days mortality and in the proportion of same week bypass surgery was observed between newly approved and historical centres. In a substantial proportion (39%) of patients treated for stable angina or silent ischaemia, no test confirming the presence of ischaemia before PCI is reported, without significant difference between new and historical centres.
Conclusions:
Pending the limitations of the QERMID database, including a limited dataset and the absence of systematic on-site monitoring, no significant difference in the rate of major complications was identified between new and historical Belgian PCI centres.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Coronary Artery Disease V: Interprofessional Care
01:30Acute Coronary Syndrome III: Diagnostic Studies