Cardiac surgery in Germany during 2007: a report on behalf of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

All cardiac surgical procedures performed in 80 German cardiac surgical units throughout the year 2007 are presented in this report, based on a voluntary registry which is organized by the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. In 2007 a total of 99,990 cardiac surgical procedures (ICD and pacemaker procedures excluded) have been collected in this registry. More than 9.8% of the patients were older than 80 years compared to 9.6% in 2006. Hospital mortality in 49,788 isolated CABG procedures (10.1% off-pump) was 2.7%. In 21,312 isolated valve procedures a mortality of 5.1% has been observed. This voluntary registry of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery will continue to be an important tool enabling quality control and illustrating the development of cardiac surgery in Germany.