The Role of Clinical Registries in Optimising Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Despite significant advances in the treatment of heart attacks over the last 40 years, they remain a major cause of death and disability worldwide. While large clinical trials form the backbone of medical practice guidelines, they have well-recognised limitations. Clinical registries provide an organised system of data collection on all patients with a particular condition or undergoing a particular procedure. They can therefore be a powerful complementary tool to understand how we practice cardiology and the quality of care that we deliver. In this thesis, I examine the role of clinical registries in improving outcomes for patients undergoing coronary stenting.