The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database: Intraoperative Echocardiography Reporting

OBJECTIVES:To identify trends in the reporting of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) data in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD) and the Adult Cardiac Anesthesiology (ACA) module by period, practice type, and geographic distribution, and to elucidate ongoing areas for practice improvement. DESIGN:A retrospective study. SETTING:STS ACSD. PARTICIPANTS:Procedures reported in the STS ACSD between July 2017 and December 2021 in participating programs in the United States. INTERVENTIONS:None MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Intraoperative TEE is reported for 73% of all procedures in ACSD. Although the intraoperative TEE data reporting rate increased from 2017 to 2021 for isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery, it remained low at 62.2%. The reporting of relevant echocardiographic variables across a wide range of procedures has steadily increased over the study period but also remained low. The reporting in the ACA module is high for most variables and across all anesthesia care models; however, the overall contribution of the ACA module to the ACSD remains low. CONCLUSIONS:This progress report suggests a continued need to raise awareness regarding current practices of reporting intraoperative TEE in the ACSD and the ACA, and highlights opportunities for improving reporting and data abstraction.