Connecticut Children’s closely tracks our congenital cardiac surgery outcomes and reports them to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Database, which is the leading patient safety and quality improvement registry among cardiothoracic surgeons.
STAT Mortality Categories
The STS reports mortality rates of surgical cases using a scale of 1-5, from least complex to most complex. These categories are also called STAT levels.
| STAT Category 1 | Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) |
| STAT Category 2 | Tetralogy of Fallot, Fontan, Ross |
| STAT Category 3 | Glenn, Arterial Switch Operation (ASO), CAVC repair |
| STAT Category 4 | Aortic arch, ASO with VSD, aorto-pulmonary shunt, TAPVR, Truncus repair |
| STAT Category 5 | Norwood procedure, Truncus Arteriosus with Interrupted Aortic Arch |
Our Surgical Outcomes (2015-2019)
Connecticut Children’s ranks below the STS national benchmarks for mortality, risk-adjusted mortality and median length of stay.
| Connecticut Children’s Median Length of Stay (Days) | STS Median Length of Stay in Days (Expected) | Connecticut Children’s Mortality | STS Mortality (Expected) | |
| STAT 1 (n=119) | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0.4% |
| STAT 2 (n=74) | 6 | 19.7 | 1.4% | 1.4% |
| STAT 3 (n=32) | 8 | 14.9 | 3.1% | 2.2% |
| STAT 4 (n=22) | 16.5 | 28 | 0 | 6.1% |
| STAT 5 (n=3) | 21 | 45.6 | 0 | 13.4% |
| Connecticut Children’s Median Length of Stay (Days) | STS Median Length of Stay in Days (Expected) | Connecticut Children’s Mortality | STS Mortality (Expected) | |
| Atrial Septal Defect | 3 | 4 | 0.0% | <1% |
| Ventricular Septal Defect | 3 | 9.1 | 0.0% | 0.5% |
| Coarctation of Aorta | 7 | 12 | 0.0% | 1.2% |
| Tetralogy of Fallot | 8 | 11.7 | 0.0% | 1.1% |
| Complete Atrioventricular Septal Defect | 9 | 16.6 | 16.7% | 2.1% |
| Aortic Stenosis | 5 | 5 | 0.0% | 2.2% |
| Transposition of Great Arteries | 9 | 17.3 | 0.0% | 2.2% |
| Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (Norwood) | 21 | 49 | 0.0% | 13.6% |