Background: Neonates with congenital heart disease are more likely to be small for gestational age. Few studies have investigated the effect of birth weight Z-score on outcomes after congenital heart surgery. Methods: Patients from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database (2010 to 2016) undergoing cardiac surgery at a corrected gestational age ≤ 44 weeks were included, and classified as severely (birth weight Z-score -4 to -2), moderately (Z-score between -2 and -1) and mildly growth restricted (Z-score -1.0 to -0.5) and compared to a reference (Z-score 0 to 0.5). Multivariable logistic regression clustering on center was used to evaluate the association of birth weight Z-score with operative mortality, postoperative complications and length of stay, adjusting for other patient characteristics. Interaction between Z-score for birth weight and gestational age was assessed. Results: In 25,244 patients, operative mortality was 8.6% and major complications occurred in 19.4%. Compared to the reference group with no growth restriction, the adjusted odds (AOR) of mortality was increased in infants with severe (AOR 2.4, CI 2.0-3.0), moderate (AOR 1.7, CI 1.4-2.0) and mild growth restriction (AOR 1.4, CI 1.2-1.6). The AOR for major postoperative complications was increased for infants with severe (AOR 1.4, CI 1.2-1.7) and moderate growth restriction (AOR 1.2, CI 1.1-1.4), but not in mildly growth restricted infants (AOR 1.0, CI 0.9-1.2). Length of stay was prolonged for all growth restricted cohorts (adjusted Hazard Ratio<1, p<0.05 for all). There was significant interaction between birth weight Z-score and gestational age (p=0.007) with the strongest association between birth weight Z-score and operative mortality in early-term (gestational age 37-38 weeks), followed by full-term (>38 weeks) and then preterm infants (<37 weeks). Conclusions: Even birth weight Z-scores that are slightly below average are independent risk factors for mortality and morbidity in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery. The strongest association between poor fetal growth and operative mortality exists in early-term neonates. These novel findings may account for some of the previously unexplained variation in cardiac surgical outcomes.
Current risk adjustment models for congenital heart surgery do not fully incorporate multiple factors unique to neonates such as granular gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW) z score data. This study sought to develop a Neonatal Risk Adjustment Model for congenital heart surgery to address these deficiencies.Cohort study of neonates undergoing cardiothoracic surgery during the neonatal period captured in the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium database between 2014 and 2020. Candidate predictors were included in the model if they were associated with mortality in the univariate analyses. GA and BW z score were both added as multicategory variables. Mortality probabilities were predicted for different GA and BW z scores while keeping all other variables at their mean value.The C statistic for the mortality model was 0.8097 (95% confidence interval, 0.7942-0.8255) with excellent calibration. Mortality prediction for a neonate at 40 weeks GA and a BW z score 0 to 1 was 3.5% versus 9.8% for the same neonate at 37 weeks GA and a BW z score -2 to -1. For preterm infants the mortality prediction at 34 to 36 weeks with a BW z score 0 to 1 was 10.6%, whereas it was 36.1% for the same infant at <32 weeks with a BW z score of -2 to -1.This Neonatal Risk Adjustment Model incorporates more granular data on GA and adds the novel risk factor BW z score. These 2 factors refine mortality predictions compared with traditional risk models. It may be used to compare outcomes across centers for the neonatal population.
In this review, we discuss the pathophysiology, treatment, and outcomes of patients with the hypoplastic left heart syndrome and other single ventricle variants prior to and following surgery.MEDLINE and PubMed.Patients with shunted single ventricle physiology are at increased risk for acute hemodynamic decompensation owing to the increased myocardial workload, the dynamic balance between systemic and pulmonary circulations, and the potential for shunt obstruction. Understanding of the physiology and anticipatory management are critical to prevent hemodynamic compromise and cardiac arrest.
The goal of pre-operative management of the neonate with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is to deliver an infant to the operating room with good cardiac output, no abnormalities of end organ function, and balanced pul monary and systemic blood flow. Some newborns' will require resuscitation after presenting in shock, others may require medical interventions to avoid hemodynamically significant pulmonary overcirculation, and rarely some may require urgent interventions to increase pulmonary blood flow by decompress ing a restrictive atrial septal defect.