Hospital Mortality and Adverse Events Following Repair of Congenital Heart Defects in Developing Countries

• Published in: World journal for pediatric & congenital heart surgery 2023-11, Vol.14 (6), p.701-707
• Main Authors: Bateson, Brian P., Deng, Luqin, Ange, Brittany, Austin, Erle, Dabal, Robert, Broser, Taylor, Pennington, John, Sivakumar, Sivalingam, Lee, Cheul, Truong, Nguyen Ly Thinh, Jacobs, Jeffery P., Cervantes, Jorge, Kirklin, James K., St. Louis, James
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiac Surgical Procedures - adverse effects; Child; Child, Preschool; Developing Countries; Heart Defects, Congenital - surgery; Hospital Mortality; Humans; Infant; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 2150-1351; 2150-136X
• DOI: 10.1177/21501351231176189

Background Mortality associated with the correction of congenital heart disease has decreased to approximately 2% in developed countries and major adverse events are uncommon. Outcomes in developing countries are less well defined. The World Database for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery was utilized to compare mortality and adverse events in developed and developing countries. Methods A total of 16,040 primary procedures were identified over a two-year period. Centers that submitted procedures were dichotomized to low/middle income (LMI) and high income (HI) by the Gross National Income per capita categorization. Mortality was defined as any death following the primary procedure to discharge or 90 days inpatient. Multiple logistic regression models were utilized to identify independent predictors of mortality. Results Of the total number of procedures analyzed, 83% (n  =  13,294) were from LMI centers. Among all centers, the mean age at operation was 2.2 years, with 36% (n  =  5,743) less than six months; 85% (n  =  11,307) of procedures were STAT I/II for LMI centers compared with 77% (n = 2127) for HI centers (P