Surgical Timing and Outcomes of Unilateral Versus Bilateral Superior Cavopulmonary Anastomosis: An Analysis of Pediatric Heart Network Public Databases

Requiring bilateral superior cavopulmonary anastomosis (bSCPA) instead of unilateral superior cavopulmonary anastomosis (uSCPA) could influence surgical timing and outcomes. We compared surgical timing and outcomes for patients who underwent uSCPA to those who underwent bSCPA through use of the Pediatric Heart Network’s public datasets for the Infant Single Ventricle trial and Single Ventricle Reconstruction trial. There was no statistically significant difference in median age at SCPA (158 vs. 150 days, p = 0.68), hospital length of stay (LOS) (7 vs. 7 days, p = 0.74), intensive care unit (ICU) LOS (4 vs. 5 days, p = 0.53), time requiring ventilator support (2 vs. 2 days, p = 0.51), or oxygen saturation at discharge (82 vs. 81%, p = 0.22) between the uSCPA and bSCPA groups, respectively. However, sub-analysis comparing only those who underwent early SCPA, at < 120 days of age, revealed significantly longer hospital LOS (8 vs. 13 days, p = 0.04), ICU LOS (5 vs. 11 days, p = 0.01), and time requiring ventilator support (2 vs. 4 days, p = 0.03) for the early bSCPA group when compared to the early uSCPA group. A multivariable logistic regression revealed bSCPA to be the only significant predictor of prolonged hospital LOS for patients who underwent early SCPA (odds ratio 4.1, 95% CI 1.2–14.2). Overall, there was no difference in surgical timing or outcome measures between uSCPA and bSCPA. However, early bSCPA, performed at < 120 days, had worse outcome measures than early uSCPA. Delaying elective bSCPA until at least 120 days of age could minimize morbidity in infants with bilateral superior venae cavae.