International collaboration with ICOBRA

DBIR collaborates intensively with international partners through ICOBRA (International Collaboration of Breast Registry Activities) (Figure 23). ICOBRA was founded in 2012, at the initiative of the Australian Breast Device Registry (ABDR) and under the auspices of the Australasian Foundation for Plastic Surgery. At the heart of the ICOBRA concept resides the core ethic and commitment to improving health outcomes for patients with breast devices globally, in an atmosphere of transparency, and a non-profit setup. Contributing countries have been working towards an internationally agreed comparable core dataset and quality indicators, using standardized and epidemiologically sound data that reflect global best practice.

Figure 23

Current partners of ICOBRA.

Additionally, by using harmonized datasets, ICOBRA hopes that future crises related to breast devices can be detected and averted in a timely fashion and that best surgical strategies can be identified. At the beginning of 2020, the first steps in pooling anonymized data between the DBIR and ABDR will be explored.

Combined Annual Report

In the beginning of 2020, the American, Australian, British, French, Dutch, and Swedish breast device registries will present their first combined ICOBRA Annual Report. This report includes data on patient-, surgery-, and device characteristics from each registry.