Kyobu geka. The Japanese journal of thoracic surgery
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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. ⋯ 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.