The STS National Database is a premier cardiothoracic surgery clinical outcomes registry that includes nationally recognized quality performance measures for adult cardiac surgery, general thoracic surgery, congenital heart surgery, and mechanical circulatory support.
Established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons, the Database exists as one of the largest and most comprehensive clinical registries, with over 10 million procedures from more than 4,600 surgeons, including more than 95% of adult cardiac surgery procedures performed in the US.
The STS National Database has four components, each focusing on a different area of cardiothoracic surgery: Adult Cardiac Surgery, Congenital Heart Surgery, General Thoracic Surgery, and mechanical circulatory support (Intermacs). By participating in the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, General Thoracic Surgery Database, Congenital Heart Surgery Database, and/or the Intermacs Database, cardiothoracic surgeons demonstrate their commitment to improving the quality of care that their patients receive.
An STS National Database participant is a hospital cardiothoracic surgery department or cardiothoracic surgery group operating at one or more hospitals. In rare instances, an individual surgeon may be a participant.
Database participants submit surgical cases for analysis and comparison with benchmarking data to support quality improvement initiatives.
The STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD) is a component of the STS National Database and is the world's premier clinical outcomes registry for adult cardiac surgery. Launched in 1989, the ACSD contains nearly 8.6 million adult cardiac surgery procedure records and currently has more than 3,700 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists.
The STS Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD) is a component of the STS National Database and is the largest database in North America dealing with congenital cardiac malformations. The CHSD contains nearly 700,000 congenital heart surgery procedure records and currently has more than 1,200 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists.
The STS General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD) is a component of the STS National Database and is the largest and most robust clinical thoracic surgical database in North America. The GTSD contains nearly 900,000 general thoracic surgery procedure records and currently has more than 950 participating surgeons.
Intermacs is a component of the STS National Database. Intermacs, along with its pediatric component, Pedimacs, is a North American registry for the clinical outcomes of patients who receive an FDA-approved mechanical circulatory support (MCS) device to treat advanced heart failure. It was established in 2005 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a joint effort among the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and others. Intermacs includes longitudinal data for the life of a patient with an MCS device. Intermacs and Pedimacs currently have more than 200 sites.
Public reporting is not currently available for the Intermacs Database.
Pediatric heart disease is a term used to describe a variety of heart conditions in newborns, infants, and children. The most common type of pediatric heart disease is congenital, meaning that people are born with it. According to the American Heart Association, congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect. They affect 8 out of every 1,000 newborns. Each year, more than 35,000 babies in the US are born with congenital heart defects.
STS believes that the public has a right to know the quality of surgical outcomes and considers public reporting an ethical responsibility of the specialty.
STS Public Reporting is an initiative that enables STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD), and General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD) participants to report their surgical outcomes to the public. Public reporting is completely voluntary, and a participant may unenroll from the program at any time.
ACSD participants can enroll to publicly report outcomes for:
Isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)
Isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR)
Combined AVR and CABG (AVR+CABG)
Isolated mitral valve replacement/repair (MVRR)
Combined MVRR and CABG (MVRR+CABG)
Procedure definitions may be found in the STS Public Reporting Glossary of Terms.
CHSD participants can enroll to publicly report operative mortality outcomes.
Procedure definitions may be found in the STS Public Reporting Glossary of Terms.
GTSD participants can enroll to publicly report outcomes for:
Resection for primary lung cancer
Esophagectomy for esophageal cancer
Procedure definitions may be found in the STS Public Reporting Glossary of Terms.
To enroll in public reporting, submit a completed consent to publicreporting@sts.org. Consent forms and submission deadlines may be found online here.
Publicly reported results are based on a participant’s unique group of patients (known as case mix) and the number of surgical procedures in each category. Results and/or star ratings published are specific to the participant listed and are not intended for direct comparison to other participants. Such comparisons, or any other false, inaccurate, or misleading uses of STS quality ratings, may lead to STS disciplinary action.
Any or all surgeons composing the “Surgeon Participant” will be considered responsible for public uses of quality ratings data made by them, their group, or the hospital associated with their participation in the Database.
The STS National Database participant logo is available, free of charge, to promote active participation in the Database, including but not limited to STS public reporting initiatives. The logo is updated annually, and a current License Agreement is required for each calendar year.
Participants are welcome to publicize their own outcomes in comparison with the STS national mean or average as a benchmark. However, the surgery dates corresponding to those outcomes must be specified prominently alongside the rating/outcomes, and direct comparisons to other hospitals or practices are not permitted.
For additional details, please read the STS Policy Statement on Public Dissemination of Quality Ratings.
Press release templates are available to participants online here.
Updated July 2026
