ESC task force to standardize CVD data

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is creating a task force on cardiovascular disease (CVD) data standardization to allow data from different registries to be compared. The society also will collaborate with the PARENT (PAtient REgistries iNiTiative) Joint Action to create an inventory of registries. The goal is to help the cardiology community find existing data and avoid duplication.

The moves follow a meeting of cardiology organizations and experts initiated by the ESC in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss the need for coordination and standardization of CVD data in Europe.

The ESC task force will build on Cardiology Audit and Registration Data Standards (CARDS), which was initiated by the Irish Ministry of Health & Children and co-funded by the European Union in 2004. CARDS aimed to standardize the definitions used in the collection of CVD data, and resulted in three datasets for three subspecialties of cardiology: PCI, clinical electrophysiology and acute coronary syndromes.

“The inventory of registries will provide a single entry point for health professionals, researchers and policy makers looking for real life data on cardiovascular diseases,” said meeting participant Frans Van de Werf, MD, PhD, in a statement. He is chairman of the cardiovascular department at the University Hospitals in Leuven, Belgium. “It will also avoid duplication of data collection in Europe. Countries will be able to use country-level data from European registries, rather than establishing their own registry. This will save valuable time and money.”