Rosemary F. Kelly, MD,a,d Jes
us A. Cabrera, MD, PhD,a,d Elizabeth A. Ziemba, MD,a Melanie Crampton,b
Lorraine B. Anderson, PhD,c Edward O. McFalls, MD,b,d and Herbert B. Ward, MD, PhDa,d

Friedrich W. Mohr, MD, PhD,a Ardawan J. Rastan, MD, PhD,a Patrick W. Serruys, MD, PhD,b
A. Pieter Kappetein, MD, PhD,b David R. Holmes, MD, PhD,c Jose L. Pomar, MD, PhD,d
Stephen Westaby, MD, PhD,e Katrin Leadley, MD,f Keith D. Dawkins, MD,f and
Michael J. Mack, MD, PhDg

Judson B. Williams, MD; Elizabeth R. DeLong, PhD; Eric D. Peterson, MD, MPH;
Rachel S. Dokholyan, MPH; Fang-Shu Ou, MS; T. Bruce Ferguson, Jr, MD; for the Society of
Thoracic Surgeons and the National Cardiac Database

Paloma Gastelurrutia, MSc,a,l Domingo Pascual-Figal, MD, PhD,b,l Rafael Vazquez, MD, PhD,c,l
Iwona Cygankiewicz, MD, PhD,d,e,l Lillian Grigorian Shamagian, MD, PhD,f,l Teresa Puig, MD, PhD,g,h,l
Andreu Ferrerog,l Juan Cinca, MD, PhD, d,i,l Antoni Bayes de Luna, MD, PhD, j,l and Antoni Bayes-Genis, MD, PhDi,k ,l
Badalona, Murcia, Cadiz, Barcelona, and Santiago de Compostela, Spain; and Lodz, Poland

Chee Tang Chin, MBChB,a,b,f Anita Y. Chen, MS,a,f Tracy Y. Wang, MD, MHS,a,f Karen P. Alexander, MD,a,f
Robin Mathews, MD,a,f John S. Rumsfeld, MD, PhD,c,f Christopher P. Cannon, MD,d,f Gregg C. Fonarow, MD,e,f
Eric D. Peterson, MD, MPH,a,f and Matthew T. Roe, MD, MHSa,f Durham, NC; Denver, CO; Boston, MA;
and Los Angeles, CA

Alawi A. Alsheikh-Ali, MD, MS,a,e Thomas A. Trikalinos, MD, PhD,a Robin Ruthazer, MPH,a Norma Terrin, PhD,a
John B. Wong, MD,c Mark J. Sarnak, MD, MS,d N.A. Mark Estes, III, MD,b and David M. Kent, MD, MSa
Boston, MA; and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Jeong-Hyeon Kwon,1 Han-Yun Jang,1 Min-Jin Oh,1 Jun-Seung Rho,1
Ju-Hye Jung,1 Keun-Sang Yum,1 and Ji-Whan Han2

Castigliano M. Bhamidipati, DO,a Damien J. LaPar, MD,a George J. Stukenborg, MA, PhD,b
Christine C. Morrison, MSN,a John A. Kern, MD,a Irving L. Kron, MD,a and Gorav Ailawadi, MDa

Eva Pastille,* Sonja Didovic,*,1 Daniela Brauckmann,* Meenakshi Rani,*,2
Hemant Agrawal,† F. Ulrich Schade,* Yang Zhang,‡ and Stefanie B. Flohe

Lars Prestegarden1 and Per Øyvind Enger1,2