Implications of congenital heart disease on growth and development of paediatric cardiac surgical patients

Abstract

Background: To identify the prevalence, predictors and implications of malnutrition and failure to thrive (FTT) in paediatric cardiac surgical patients.Methods: Observational retrospective analysis of data of paediatric patients presenting for cardiac surgery at Queen Alia heart institute/Amman/Jordan between April 2020 and October 2020. Patients' ages, anthropometric measurements, diagnoses, type of surgical intervention, ICU stay and perioperative outcomes were recorded on a special form designed for the purpose of this study. Prevalence of malnutrition based on world health organization (WHO) and centers for disease control (CDC) growth charts was determined using height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and percentile, weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) and percentile, weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) and percentile. BMI was used for patients above 2 years of age in 109 paediatric cardiac surgical patients. Prevalence of malnutrition and FTT was examined according to age category and cardiac pathology). Patients were divided according to heart pathology into cyanotic and acyanotic CHD.Results: One hundred and nine pediatric cardiac surgical patients were presented for cardiac surgery (59 males and 50 females). Patients' age ranged from 2 days to 17 years (mean 3.7 years, SD±4.5 years). Patients' body weight ranged from 2.7 to 70 kg (mean 14.98 kg, SD±14.2 kg). Average weight percentile was 19.26 (SD±20.01) and ranged between 0.1 and 88.5 and the average Z-score for weight was -1.274±1.037 (mean±SD). The overall height percentile for the all patients with CHD averaged 18.53±17.1 (mean±SD) and the average Z-score for height was -1.1029±0.743 (mean±SD). Prevalence of isolated malnutrition and FTT was 33.2% and 20.2%. Normal nutritional status was found in 46.78%. Cyanotic type CHD was more commonly associated with FTT (p=0.001), longer cardiopulmonary bypass (p=0.001), higher intraoperative lactate (p=0.012) and aortic cross clamp times (p=0.001). Patients with malnutrition and FTT had average ICU stay of 4.32±2.219 days and averaged 4.772±2.065 days (mean±SD) respectively, which was almost double of the ICU stay of patients who had normal nutritional status 2.32±2.261 days (mean±SD).Conclusions: Prevalence of malnutrition and FTT is high in paediatric patients with CHD at time of presentation for surgery. Predicting factors for malnutrition and FTT are cyanotic type of CHD and smaller age. Malnutrition was associated with longer ICU stay.