Vascular and Endovascular Surgical Activity in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Northern Ireland

Abstract

At the meeting of the European Board of Vascular The European Board of Vascular Surgery discussed various drafts and eventually agreed on the index Surgery, Union Europeenne des Medecins Specialistes (UEMS), on April 13th, 1996, in London it was decided procedures listed in Table 1. We are well aware that this preliminary effort could be criticised on certain to explore the possibilities for creating a registry of vascular and endovascular surgical activity in terms points, especially with regard to the coupling of indications and procedures. On the other hand, although of procedures performed within the European Union and associated states. national database structures and entry points vary, it should be possible to obtain realistic and reasonably In the United States of America, the volume of selected index procedures has been published with comparable data. Table 1 provides the background for collecting a minimal common data set, and it can be information from The National Center for Health Statistics through its National Hospital Discharge Survey and from individual practitioners. Table 1. Detailed definitions of the index procedures. In some European countries, detailed information Code Definition on activity is available, notably from the registries created and maintained by the national scientific soA Open vascular surgical procedures on the carotid artery B Open vascular surgical procedures for non-specific cieties, viz. The Danish Vascular Registry, Karbase infrarenal aortic aneurysm (Denmark), Swedvasc (Sweden), Norkar (Norway), C Open vascular surgical procedures for occlusive Finnvasc (Finland) and independently, viz. Nivasc atherosclerotic arterial disease of the aorto-iliac-femoral segments (the most distal anastomosis, (Northern Ireland). thrombendarterectomy etc. may be in the groin) A working party consisting of David Bergqvist (SweD Open vascular surgical procedures for occlusive den), Ola B. Saether (Norway), Mauri Lepantalo (Finatherosclerotic arterial disease in the leg (including procedures in the groin without simultaneous procedures land) and William Paaske (Denmark) was formed to proximal to the inguinal ligament) above knee suggest a format for the proposed EUROVASC registry. E Open vascular surgical procedures for occlusive The aim was to identify certain index procedures atherosclerotic arterial disease in the leg (including procedures in the groin without simultaneous procedures that could be used as a template for extraction of proximal to the inguinal ligament) below knee meaningful information on activity from the national F Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty +/− stenting above registries already in existence. The EUROVASC rethe inguinal ligament G Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty +/− stenting below gistry should also be relatively simple, enabling the the inguinal ligament inclusion of data from future national registries withH Endoprostheses for abdominal aortic and/or iliac out too many problems. Further, the format of the aneurysm I Endoprostheses for occlusive atherosclerotic arterial disease European registry, at least in part, ought to correspond above the inguinal ligament to its American counterpart. J Endoprostheses for occlusive atherosclerotic arterial disease below the inguinal ligament ∗ Please address all correspondence to: W. Paaske, Department of K Procedures for arterial trauma Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery T, Aarhus University Hospital, L Permanent angioaccess procedures for haemodialysis Skejby Sygehus, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.