GRACE

Associate Editor-In-Chief:

Overview
GRACE (the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) is a large, prospective, multinational observational study of patients hospitalized with ACS. The aim of GRACE is to improve the quality of care for patients with ACS by describing differences in, and relationships between, patient characteristics, treatment practices, and in-hospital and postdischarge outcomes at hospitals around the world.

Methods
A total of 73 hospitals with on-site angiographic facility in 14 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand were collaborated in GRACE and enrolled 24,189 patients.

Clusters were chosen on the basis of local demographic characteristics and hospital facilities to ensure a representative sample of patients with ACS from each country. Patients are identified by use of either active or passive surveillance approaches.

A standardized core case report form is completed for all patients. Information on patient demographics, medical history, acute symptoms, clinical characteristics, electrocardiographic findings, treatment approaches, and in-hospital outcomes is collected.

Patients are followed up at 6 months after hospital discharge to identify recurrent coronary events, use of various medications, and mortality.

Conclusions
The information collected from the GRACE project provides important and extensive insights into patient demographic and clinical characteristics, current practice patterns, and outcomes for patients with ACS from a number of countries throughout the world. Given the pressures of practicing evidence-based medicine, the results of GRACE should provide a multinational perspective into these important outcomes and identify practice variations that will allow new opportunities to improve patient care.