Congenital Cardiac Surgery ACGME case minimums
Fellows in Congenital Cardiac Surgery have a published ACGME minimum in 20 of 36 case categories, and the largest single minimum is 150. Each row below cites the ACGME requirement it was read from.
By Chris, CA-1, anesthesiology
Congenital Cardiac Surgery minimums by category
| Category | Primary surgeon minimum | Maximum allowed total |
|---|---|---|
| a minimum of 150 major congenital cardiac surgery procedures as primary surgeon | 150 | — |
| A minimum of 50 of these cases must be performed as primary surgeon in the first 12 months of the program. | 50 | — |
| Ventricular septal defect repairs | 10 | — |
| Atrioventricular septal defect repairs (minimum of 4 complete required) | 8 | — |
| Tetralogy of Fallot repair (with or without pulmonary atresia) | 8 | — |
| Aortic arch reconstruction/coarctation repair (minimum of 3 via median sternotomy) | 8 | — |
| Systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt procedures | 3 | — |
| Any combination of the following: Arterial switch; Norwood; Damus-Kaye-Stansel; Common arterial trunk repair | 8 | — |
| Bidirectional Glenn/hemi-Fontan procedures | 5 | — |
| Fontan procedures | 5 | — |
| Any combination of the following: Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection repair (minimum of 1); Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection repair | 4 | — |
| Pulmonary artery banding procedures | 3 | — |
| Vascular ring procedures | 3 | — |
| Any combination of the following: Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA); Anomalous coronary artery from the pulmonary artery; Coronary fistula; Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients under 18 years of age | 3 | — |
| Re-operative procedures in patients older than 5 years of age (independent of the above index cases) | 8 | — |
| Secundum atrial septal defect and/or patent foramen ovale closure | — | 10 |
| Atrial septal defect (primum or sinus venosus) closure with or without partial anomalous venous connection | — | — |
| Aortopulmonary window closure | — | — |
| Double outlet right ventricle repair | — | — |
| Mustard or Senning procedure | — | — |
| Rastelli procedure, REV, Nikaidoh procedure | — | — |
| Pulmonary artery unifocalization | — | — |
| Right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery conduit replacement procedures | — | 8 |
| Supravalvar aortic stenosis repair | — | — |
| Subaortic stenosis resection; discrete, diffuse, asymmetric septal hypertrophy | — | — |
| Double-chambered right ventricle repair; discrete, muscular | — | — |
| Coarctation/interrupted aortic arch repair, isolated | — | — |
| Cor triatriatum repair | — | — |
| Atrial septectomy | — | — |
| Sinus of valsalva aneurysm/fistula repair | — | — |
| Transplant (specify heart, heart/lung) [Note: organ procurement does not count "for credit" toward the case requirement] | — | — |
| Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation and/or division procedures | — | 5 |
| Pulmonary valve repair/replacement procedures (with or without transannular patch) | — | 8 |
| Ebstein anomaly (Starnes, cone, other repair; excluding replacement) | — | — |
| Other valve repair or replacement in patients 18 years of age or younger: Aortic valve repair; Aortic valve replacement; Mitral valve repair; Mitral valve replacement; Tricuspid valve repair (not Ebstein anomaly); Tricuspid valve replacement (not Ebstein anomaly) | — | 8 |
| Arrhythmia surgery (specify) [Note: pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation are not considered "major" cases and do not count toward the case requirement] | — | — |
An em-dash means the ACGME publishes no minimum on that row — not a minimum of zero.
Congenital Cardiac Surgery · ACGME specialty 466.
Capnolog counts these live for anesthesiology and neurological surgery; other specialties are reference only.
What counts toward a minimum?
- The ACGME tracks key indicator procedures for Congenital Cardiac Surgery: the minimums apply to those procedures, not to every case logged.
- Each minimum is read in its own column: “Primary surgeon minimum” and “Maximum allowed total”.
- 35 rows are drawn from a larger row: those cases count toward that row too, never on top of it.
- 16 rows carry no published number and show an em-dash, which is not a minimum of zero.
- The ACGME Review Committee that accredits Congenital Cardiac Surgery programs sets these requirements.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Case Log categories and minimum numbers, July 2025
- Program Requirements, July 1, 2026
Capnolog is independent of the ACGME. Where a number here and the ACGME's own document disagree, the document is right.