Aristotle Basic Complexity Score (ABCS): Explanation and Clinical Context The Aristotle Basic Complexity Score is a validated tool designed to estimate the procedural complexity for congenital heart surgery in pediatric and adult patients.
It combines factors such as the type of surgical procedure, patient age, presence of noncardiac congenital abnormalities, and genetic abnormalities. Each factor is assigned a weighted score, and their sum represents the overall procedural complexity.
Higher ABCS values indicate higher complexity and potentially higher perioperative risk. This score is particularly useful for surgical planning, risk stratification, and quality benchmarking in congenital heart surgery programs.
Reference:
Calder L, et al. The Aristotle Score for Congenital Heart Surgery: Validation and Update. Ann Thorac Surg. 2004;78:1994-2003. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2004.06.022