Report of the Coding Committee of the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology

Abstract

IN 1999 AND EARLY 2000, THE ASSOCIATION FOR European Paediatric Cardiology published the European Paediatric Cardiac Code as independent but linked Short and Long Lists, containing 650 and 3876 primary terms respectively. The historical background and rationale for development of this coding system has been previously detailed, but essentially it followed a series of meeting of the coding committee of the Association between 1997–1999, during which a pre-existing Long List was adopted and then used to create the condensed Short List. The system was published as the recommended standard coding system for use across Europe, covering the diagnosis and therapy of children with congenital and acquired cardiac disease. The scope of the lists was to encompass the needs of all those involved with such patients, from the fetal cardiologist through to the specialist in adult congenital heart disease; and from the general paediatric cardiologist and cardiac surgeon, to those specialising in transcatheter interventions, paediatric electrophysiology, and paediatric echocardiographers. In addition, the code was crossmapped to the 9th and 10th revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (“ICD-9” and “ICD-10”) provided by the World Health Organisation in order to facilitate returns to central government, a requirement in most countries. In so doing, it was hoped to address the concerns of many centres that such information submitted by professional coding staff was often inaccurate due to the complex nature of congenital cardiac disease, together with the limited scope and vague terminology of the International listings.

Congenital heart disease in 111 225 births in Belgium: birth prevalence, treatment and survival in the 21st century

“…However, to date, there is no gold standard for classifying patients in epidemiological studies. Comprehensive classification schemes, such as the International Congenital Heart Surgery Nomenclature and Database Project (28) or the European Paediatric Cardiac Code (29), do not provide a hierarchy of heart defects that can be used in epidemiological studies like ours.…”

Education as important predictor for successful employment in adults with congenital heart disease worldwide

“…By this multilevel structure, patients were nested within countries, to account for as much influence from cultural differences as possible. Odds Age, y (IQR) 4013 31 (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43) 32 (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41) 32 (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42) .649…”

“…Code Short List coding scheme. 24 To categorize complexity of CHD, a prespecified hierarchical scheme was used, classifying type of CHD as either mild, moderate, or severe. 25 Employment status was classified by the patient as either full-or part-time, unemployed (including job seeking), disabled/government financial assistance, homemaker, student, retired, or other.…”

Epidemiological study of congenital heart defects in children and adolescents: analysis of 4,538 cases

“…The classification was based on the sequential analysis of the heart performed on the echocardiogram, following the nomenclature of the European Paediatric Cardiac Code 6 and the Congenital Heart Surgery Nomenclature and Database Project 7 .…”