The current trends of mortality following congenital heart surgery: the Japan Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery Database

OBJECTIVES Whereas surgical outcomes of congenital heart surgery have improved during the past two decades, there are still measurable postoperative mortalities in this field. This study is aimed at evaluating the current situation of mortality following congenital heart surgery. METHODS Data on all registered 28 810 patients in The Japan Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery Database (JCCVSD) between 2008 and 2012 were analysed, except for patients with degenerative cardiomyopathy including dilated, restrictive and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and pathologically or histologically malignant cardiac tumours. The number of registered cases increased every year, and reached ∼9000 cases in 2012. The median age at surgery was 0.8 years (range, 0–82). More than half of the patients (54%) who underwent surgery were