To study completeness of reporting carotid endarterectomies, including peri-operative stroke and mortality rate, in a national vascular registry, NorKar, and a national administrative registry, The Norwegian Patient Register (NPR). Comparative registry-based national study. Member hospitals of NorKar, including 89% of carotid endarterectomies in Norway, were compared with relevant data in NPR for the years 2000-2002. We compared procedure-codes, diagnosis-codes, in-hospital death and the occurrence of peri-operative stroke after treatment for carotid artery stenosis in the two registries to evaluate completeness. Compared with the NPR numbers, 16% of carotid endarterectomies were missing in the reports from member hospitals of NorKar. Further, during this three-year period, there was an under-reporting of seven strokes and two deaths. The discrepancy was most pronounced in 2001.
There is an under-reporting of patients operated on for carotid artery stenosis in NorKar according to NPR numbers as well as an under-reporting of early deaths and strokes. There is a need for better quality data in the NorKar Registry. Registry quality would be likely to improve if patient identifiable data were available in both registries.
Data quality of surgery for carotid artery stenosis. Are the national vascular registries reliable?