Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction in Pediatric Sepsis: Outcomes in a Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Objectives: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is associated with difficulty in ventilator weaning and increased mortality in septic adults. We evaluated the association of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction with outcomes in a cohort of children with severe sepsis and septic shock. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Single-center noncardiac PICU. Patients: Age greater than 1 month to less than 18 years old with severe sepsis or septic shock from January 2011 to June 2017 with echocardiogram within 48 hours of sepsis onset. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Echocardiograms were retrospectively assessed for mitral inflow E (early) and A (atrial) velocity and e′ (early mitral annular motion) septal and lateral velocity. Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was defined as E/e′ greater than 10, E/A less than 0.8, or E/A greater than 1.5. Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was present in 109 of 204 patients (53%). The data did not demonstrate an association between the presence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and the proportion of children requiring invasive mechanical ventilation at the time of echocardiogram (difference in proportion, +5% [72% vs 67%; 95% CI, -8% to 17%]; p = 0.52). The duration of mechanical ventilation was median 192.9 hours (interquartile range, 65.0-378.4 hr) in the left ventricular diastolic dysfunction group versus 151.0 hours (interquartile range, 45.7-244.3 hr) in the group without left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. The presence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was not significantly associated with ICU length of stay or mortality. Exploratory analyses revealed that an alternative definition of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, solely defined by E/e′ greater than 10, was found to have an association with mechanical ventilation requirement at the time of echocardiogram (difference in proportion, +15%; 95% CI, 3-28%; p = 0.02) and duration of mechanical ventilation (median, 207.3 vs 146.9 hr). Conclusions: The data failed to show an association between the presence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction defined by both E/e′ and E/A and the primary and secondary outcomes. When an alternative definition of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction with E/e′ alone was used, there was a significant association with respiratory outcomes.