The Western Denmark Heart Registry: Its Influence on Cardiovascular Patient Care

The WDHR (Western Denmark Heart Registry) is a seminational, multicenter-based registry with longitudinal registration of detailed patient and procedure data since 1999. The registry includes as of January 1, 2017 approximately 240,000 coronary angiographies, 90,000 percutaneous coronary interventions, 60,000 cardiac computed tomographies, 40,000 cardiac operations, and 2,000 transcatheter aortic valve replacements. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging are soon to be added. Each procedure is registered with 50 to 200 administrative, patient, and procedure variables. Lesion data are also registered for percutaneous coronary intervention, and cardiac surgeries also include variables for EuroSCORE, anesthesia, perfusion, and intensive care. The registry has high completeness and accuracy. The Danish registry infrastructure allows for complete follow-up for medical events and mortality, which greatly enhances the research potential of the data. This review describes why the WDHR is a unique data resource and how it continues to influence cardiovascular patient care.