Benchmarking a Center of Excellence in Vascular Surgery: Using Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II to Validate Outcomes in a Tertiary Care Institute.

APACHE II score is a poor predictor of 30-day mortality in a large transfer network accepting all aortic emergencies. The authors believe further refining a prognostic model for diverse population will not only help in predicting outcomes but to objectively quantify illness severity in order to have a basis for comparison among institutions and verification of "centers of excellence".