Abstract
Our aim was to evaluate postoperative morbidity and mortality following initial intervention, comparing primary repair versus palliative shunt in the setting of ductal-dependent tetralogy of Fallot. When neonatal surgical intervention is required, controversy and cross-center variability exists with regard to surgical strategy. The multicenter Pediatric Health Information System database was queried to identify patients with TOF and ductal-dependent physiology, excluding pulmonary atresia. Eight hundred forty-five patients were included—349 (41.3 %) underwent primary complete repair, while 496 (58.7 %) underwent initial palliation. Palliated patients had significantly higher comorbid diagnoses of genetic syndrome and coronary artery anomalies. Primary complete repair patients had significantly increased morbidity across a number of variables compared to shunt palliation, but mortality rate was equal (6 %). Second-stage complete repair was analyzed for 285 of palliated patients, with median inter-stage duration of 231 days (175–322 days). In comparison to primary complete repairs, second-stage repairs had significantly decreased morbidity and mortality. However, cumulative morbidity was higher for the staged patients. Median adjusted billed charges were lower for primary complete repair ($363,554) compared to staged repair ($428,109). For ductal-dependent TOF, there is no difference in postoperative mortality following the initial surgery (6 %) whether management involves primary repair or palliative shunt. Although delaying complete repair by performing a palliative shunt is associated with a shift of much of the morbidity burden to outside of the newborn period, there is greater total postoperative morbidity and resource utilization associated with the staged approach.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 177-189 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Pediatric Cardiology |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Repair
- Shunt
- Surgery
- Tetralogy of Fallot
- Timing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine