Vascular Registries Contributing to VASCUNET Collaborative Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Outcome Projects: A Scoping Review

Anna L Pouncey; Lorenz Meuli; Cristina Lopez-Espada; Jacob Budtz-Lilly; Jonathan R Boyle; Christian-Alexander Behrendt; Kevin Mani; Arun D Pherwani; VASCUNET AAA Registry Collaborators

doi:10.1016/j.ejvs.2024.04.037

Vascular Registries Contributing to VASCUNET Collaborative Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Outcome Projects: A Scoping Review

Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2024 Apr 30:S1078-5884(24)00373-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2024.04.037. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Anna L Pouncey¹, Lorenz Meuli², Cristina Lopez-Espada³, Jacob Budtz-Lilly⁴, Jonathan R Boyle⁵, Christian-Alexander Behrendt⁶, Kevin Mani⁷, Arun D Pherwani⁸; VASCUNET AAA Registry Collaborators

Collaborators

VASCUNET AAA Registry Collaborators:
Martin Altreuther⁹, Barry Beiles¹⁰, Kevin Cassar¹¹, Andreia Coelho¹², David Cromwell¹³, Rob Fitridge¹⁴, Matthew Joe Grima¹⁵, Manar Khashram¹⁶, Igor Koncar¹⁷, Fabien Lareyre¹⁸, Thomas Lattmann¹⁹, Elín Laxdal²⁰, Andreas M Lazaris²¹, Konstantinos G Moulakakis²², Carlo Setacchi²³, Tanaskovic Slobodan²⁴, Zoltán Szeberin²⁵, Maarit Venermo²⁶, Sam Waton²⁷

Affiliations

¹ Vascular Department, Division of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.
² Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Zurich (USZ), University of Zurich (UZH), Zurich, Switzerland; Copenhagen Aortic Centre, Department of Vascular Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³ Department of Surgery, University Hospital Virgen de las Nieves, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
⁴ Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁵ Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust & Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Asklepios Clinic Wandsbek, Asklepios Medical School, Hamburg, Germany.
⁷ Department of Surgical Sciences, Section of Vascular surgery, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁸ Keele University School of Medicine, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, Stoke-on-Trent, UK; The National Vascular Registry (NVR), UK. Electronic address: Arun.Pherwani@uhnm.nhs.uk.
⁹ St. Olav's University Hospital, Norway.
¹⁰ Australian and New Zealand Society for Vascular Surgery.
¹¹ University of Malta, Malta.
¹² Centro Hospitalar Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto, Portugal.
¹³ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
¹⁴ University of Adelaide, Australia.
¹⁵ Mater Dei Hospital, Malta.
¹⁶ University of Auckland, New Zealand.
¹⁷ University of Belgrade, Serbia.
¹⁸ Centre Hopitalier Antibes Juan-Les-Pins, France.
¹⁹ Kantonsspital Winterthur, Switzerland.
²⁰ Landspitalin University Hospital, Norway.
²¹ University of Athens, Greece.
²² University of Patras, Greece.
²³ Università degli Studi di Siena, Italy.
²⁴ Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases Dedinje, Belgrade, Serbia.
²⁵ Semmelweis University, Hungary.
²⁶ Helskinki University Hospital, Finland.
²⁷ Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), England.

PMID: 38697257
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2024.04.037

Abstract

Objective: Vascular surgery registries report on procedures and outcomes to promote patient safety and drive quality improvement. International registries have significantly contributed to the VASCUNET collaborative abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) outcome projects. This scoping review aimed to outline the national registries in vascular surgery that currently participate in the VASCUNET collaborative AAA projects.

Methods: A scoping review of all published VASCUNET AAA studies and validation reports between 1997 and 2024 was undertaken. A survey was conducted among representatives of the international vascular registries contributing to VASCUNET collaborative AAA projects.

Results: Currently, vascular registries from 10 countries (Australia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK) contribute to the current VASCUNET collaborative AAA project, of which eight have national coverage. In the past, three countries (Germany, Malta, and Italy) have participated in previous VASCUNET AAA projects, and a further three countries (Serbia, Greece, and Portugal) have planned participation in future projects. External validity is high for all current registries, with most reporting rates of > 90%. The majority have internal validation processes to assess data accuracy. VASCUNET mediated validation has also been performed by the consortium for five countries to date (Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Malta, and Switzerland), for which a high degree of external and internal validity was identified. Most registries have established mechanisms for data linkage with national administrative datasets or insurance claims datasets, and contribute to quality improvement through regular reporting to participating centres.

Conclusion: National vascular registries from nations participating in the VASCUNET collaborative AAA projects are largely comprehensive, with high case ascertainment rates and good quality data with internal quality assurance. This provides a template for new registries wishing to join the VASCUNET collaboration and a benchmark for future research.

Keywords: Abdominal aortic aneurysm; Registries; VASCUNET.