The Outcome of Open Heart Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease in Infants With Low Body Weight Less Than 2500 g

Although the outcome of neonatal cardiac surgery has dramatically improved, low body weight (LBW) is still considered an important risk for open heart surgery. The factors contributing to poor outcomes in LBW infants, however, are still unclear. We investigated risk factors for poor outcomes in infants weighing <2500 g who underwent surgical correction with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). From January 1995 to December 2009, 102 consecutive patients were included in this study. Median age and body weight at the time of surgery was 19 (range 1 to 365) days and 2.23 kg (range 1.3 to 2.5), respectively. Corrective surgery was performed on 75 infants. The median follow-up duration was 45.03 months (range 0.33 to 155.23). There were 23 (22.5%) hospital mortalities. Emergency surgery and low cardiac output (LCO) were associated with early mortality; however, body weight, Aristotle basic complex score, and type of surgery was not. Early morbidities, including delayed sterna closure, arrhythmia, and chylothorax, occurred in 39 (38.2%) infants. The overall actuarial survival rate at 10 years was 74.95% ± 4.37%. In conclusion, among infants weighing <2500 g who underwent open heart surgery with CPB, perioperative hemodynamic status, such as emergency surgery and LCO, strongly influenced early mortality. In contrast, LBW itself was not associated with patient morbidity or mortality.