INTERMACS (Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support): a new paradigm for translating registry data into clinical practice.

摘要

The National Institutes of Health supports research that informs clinical practice. To do this effectively, it employs a variety of approaches to gather and disseminate information on the safety and efficacy of medical interventions. The accepted gold standard for generation of rigorous clinical evidence is the randomized clinical trial. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs), however, have drawbacks; they are generally expensive, have a long duration, are focused on a selected patient population, and their findings may be obsolete by the time the results are published. For some clinical research, a more practical option is the large clinical registry. Consequently, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) supports both approaches in its clinical research programs directed at the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular, lung, blood, and sleep disorders.