Long-term follow-up is mandatory for hybrid approaches to complex congenital heart surgery

Abstract Background: Improvements in mortality after congenital heart surgery have necessitated a shift in focus to postoperative morbidity as an outcome measure. We examined late morbidity after congenital heart surgery based on prescription medication use. Methods: Between 1953 and 2009, 10,635 patients underwent congenital heart surgery at <15 years of age in Finland. We obtained 4 age-, sex-, birth-time, and hospital district-matched controls per patient. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland provided data on all prescription medications obtained between 1999 and 2012 by patients and controls. Patients were assigned one diagnosis based on a hierarchical list of cardiac defects and dichotomised into simple and severe groups. Medications were divided into short- and long-term based on indication. Follow-up started at the first operation and ended at death, emigration, or 31 December, 2012. Results: Totally, 8623 patients met inclusion criteria. Follow-up was 99.9%. In total, 8126 (94%) patients required prescription medications. Systemic anti-bacterials were the most common short-term prescriptions among patients (93%) and controls (88%). Patients required betablockers (simple hazard ratio 1.9, 95% confidence interval 1.7–2.1; severe hazard ratio 6.5, 95% confidence interval 5.3–8.1) and diuretics (simple hazard ratio 3.2, 95% CI 2.8–3.7; severe hazard ratio 38.8, 95% CI 27.5–54.7) more often than the general population. Both simple and severe defects required medication for cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, psychiatric, neurologic, metabolic, autoimmune, and infectious diseases more often than the general population. Conclusions: The significant risk for postoperative cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular disease warrants close long-term follow-up after congenital heart surgery for all defects.

Download Full-text

Outcomes of home mechanical ventilation with tracheostomy after congenital heart surgery

Cardiology in the Young ◽

10.1017/s1047951121001657 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Bahar Temur ◽

İsmet E Emre ◽

Selim Aydın ◽

Mehmet A Önalan ◽

Serdar Başgöze ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Ventilation ◽

Median Duration ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Heart Surgery ◽

Total Mortality ◽

Congenital Heart Surgery ◽

Home Mechanical Ventilation ◽

Significant Difference

Abstract Objective: After congenital heart surgery, some patients may need long-term mechanical ventilation because of chronic respiratory failure. In this study, we analysed outcomes of the patients who need tracheostomy and home mechanical ventilation. Methods: Amongst 1343 patients who underwent congenital heart surgery between January, 2014 and June, 2018, 45 needed tracheostomy and HMV. The median age of these patients was 6.4 months (12 days–6.5 years). Nineteen patients underwent palliation while 26 patients underwent total repair. Post-operative diaphragm plication was performed in five patients (11%). Median duration of mechanical ventilation before tracheostomy was 32 days (8–154 days). The patients were followed up with their home ventilators in ward and at home. Mean follow-up time was 36.24 ± 11.61 months. Results: The median duration of ICU stay after tracheostomy was 27 days (range 2–93 days). Follow-up time in ward was median 30 days (2–156 days). A total of 12 patients (26.6%) were separated from the ventilator and underwent decannulation during hospital stay. Thirty-two patients (71.1%) were discharged home with home ventilator support. Of them, 15 patients (46.9%) were separated from the respiratory support in median of 6 weeks (1 week–11 months) and decannulations were performed. Total mortality was 31.1%. in which four patients are still HMV dependent. There was no significant difference for decannulation between total repair and palliation patients. Conclusion: HMV via tracheostomy is a useful option for the treatment of children who are dependent on long-term ventilation after congenital heart surgery although there are potential risks.

Download Full-text

Databases for assessing the outcomes of the treatment of patients with congenital and paediatric cardiac disease – the perspective of cardiac surgery

Cardiology in the Young ◽

10.1017/s1047951108002813 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 (S2) ◽

pp. 101-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Marshall Lewis Jacobs ◽

Jeffrey Phillip Jacobs ◽

Rodney C.G. Franklin ◽

Constantine Mavroudis ◽

Francois Lacour-Gayet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cardiac Surgery ◽

Heart Surgery ◽

Congenital Heart Surgery ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Current State ◽

Long Term Follow Up ◽

History Of ◽

Cardiac Surgeons

AbstractThis review includes a brief discussion, from the perspective of cardiac surgeons, of the rationale for creation and maintenance of multi-institutional databases of outcomes of congenital heart surgery, together with a history of the evolution of such databases, a description of the current state of the art, and a discussion of areas for improvement and future expansion of the concept. Five fundamental areas are reviewed: nomenclature, mechanism of data collection and storage, mechanisms for the evaluation and comparison of the complexity of operations and stratification of risk, mechanisms to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the data, and mechanisms for expansion of the current capabilities of databases to include comparison and sharing of data between medical subspecialties. This review briefly describes several European and North American initiatives related to databases for pediatric and congenital cardiac surgery the Congenital Database of The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, the Congenital Database of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Pediatric Cardiac Care Consortium, and the Central Cardiac Audit Database in the United Kingdom. Potential means of approaching the ultimate goal of acquisition of long-term follow-up data, and input of this data over the life of the patient, are also considered.

Download Full-text