In this message from Washington, DC, Vinay Badhwar, MD, reflects on the 2026 STS Advocacy Conference, where members brought priorities directly to policymakers to help shape the future of cardiothoracic surgery. He also previews the latest developments in thoracic clinical trials and how STS advocacy efforts continue to advance the specialty.
A study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery examines the value of incorporating procedure-specific factors on estimation of expected mortality beyond the standard clinical variables. These factors have been collected in the STS Congenital Heart Surgery Database since 2013, but not previously incorporated in risk models. Watch this video analysis of the study.
Institutional performance and national benchmarks for survival, complications, and other measures.
STS data for quality improvement initiatives, clinical trials, and research
Improve patient outcomes with guidelines from experienced medical professionals.
