Introduccion en ausencia de datos nacionales sobre el tema, los autores se propusieron evaluar la utilidad del European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) en la prediccion de mortalidad intrahospitalaria en una institucion cardiovascular de Colombia. Metodos desde agosto de 2008 a diciembre de 2010, se siguio una cohorte de 750 pacientes adultos sometidos a procedimientos como: revascularizacion miocardica, cambios valvular aortico o mitral u otras cirugias cardiacas. Para todos ellos se calculo el EuroSCORE logistico y se estimo su relacion con la mortalidad intrahospitalaria. Resultados la mortalidad observada fue significativamente inferior a la esperada segun el EuroSCORE (5,9% vs. 8,1%; RR = 0,73; IC95%: 0,51-0,94; p=0,03). El EuroSCORE mostro un area bajo la curva ROC de 86,1% (IC95%: 80,4%-90,7%) para la prediccion de este evento. Se observo un patron de incremento de la mortalidad por un factor de 1,07 (IC95%: 1,05-1,08; p Conclusiones EuroSCORE fue util para predecir mortalidad; sin embargo, los valores observados estuvieron por debajo de los esperados y su utilidad parecio variar de acuerdo con la intervencion. Por tanto, se justifica realizar estudios de mayor magnitud para validar esta escala en diferentes procedimientos o proponer una escala basada en datos locales. Introduction in the absence of national data on the subject, the authors sought to evaluate the usefulness of the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) in predicting hospital mortality in a cardiovascular institution in Colombia. Methods from August 2008 to December 2010, a cohort of 750 adult patients undergoing procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve or mitral replacements or other cardiac surgeries was followed up. Logistic EuroSCORE and its relation with hospital mortality was calculated in all of them. Results the observed mortality was significantly lower than expected according to the EuroSCORE (5.9% vs. 8.1%, RR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.94, P = 0.03). The EuroSCORE showed an area under the ROC curve of 86.1% (95% CI: 80.4% -90.7%) for the prediction of this event. We observed a pattern of increased mortality by a factor of 1.07 (95% CI: 1.05 to 1.08, P Conclusions EuroSCORE was useful to predict mortality; however, the observed values were lower than expected and its usefulness seemed to vary according to the intervention. It is therefore justifiable to realize larger studies to validate this scale in different procedures or propose a different scale based on local data.