Anesthesia, Perfusion, and Surgical practicEs in Cardiac Surgery

Perioperative management in cardiac surgery, particularly the use of anesthesia, cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and surgical techniques, remains highly variable across institutions. Current international guidelines lack clear recommendations due to insufficient high-quality comparative data. APECx is an adaptive, international, multicenter, prospective, observational study designed to address multiple of these evidence gaps. The adaptive design allows the study to proceed through subsequent phases. Each phase will collect comprehensive global data on specific peri-operative practices and their associated patient outcomes, all within a single, continuously evolving study.