Cirugía cardiovascular en España en el año 2020. Registro de intervenciones de la Sociedad Española de Cirugía Cardiovascular y Endovascular

The Spanish Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery (SECCE) reports the results of the 2020 registry of the surgical activity in our country. This year represents the 33(rd) consecutive year in which this report is published. The participation in this registry is anonymous and voluntary, and it is based on the analysis of the information gathered from 60 centers with activity in cardiovascular surgery in our country, and the confidentiality of the individual data of each center is warranted. It is certainly an important issue in which COVID-19 impact on cardiac surgical activity is analysed. The registry reports the global activity in our country, the observed mortality and the estimated mortality risk, stratified in different types of procedures. In 2020, 27.017 interventions were performed, with 17.880 of major heart surgery. Among these, 16.271 procedures were adult cardiac surgery and 1.609 of congenital heart surgery. Congenital heart surgery and cardiac transplant registries are specifically analysed in their corresponding reports. Among the 17.311 procedures of acquired major cardiac surgery, isolated valve surgery was predominant (6.766 procedures), followed by coronary by-pass surgery (4.239), aorta surgery (1.902). TAVI procedures were performed in 502 cases. Coronary surgery showed a 11% decrease in activity. The information derived from this national registry allows to know the state-of-the-art of the surgical specialty in our country, through the knowledge of the surgical activity, the risk profile and the observed results, which is a keystone for an adequate evaluation of the quality of the health care that we deliver to the patients affected with cardiovascular pathologies. Risk adjusted mortality seems adequately adjusted, though important local differences are observed.