Problems of the neonates with congenital heart disease requiring early interventions: a regional report.

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to determine the problems of the neonates who were diagnosed with congenital heart disease requiring early intervention in our hospital. The files of the newborn babies with congenital heart disease requiring early intervention who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of our hospital between January 2011 and January 2013 were evaluated retrospectively. In all cases, echocardiography and ''Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology-II" (SNAP-II) scoring were performed within the first day of admission. The data were interpreted using Number Cruncher Statistical System 2007 software. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05. A total of 83 babies were included in the study. Forty six of the patients were male (55%), and 37 (45%) were female. Sixty eight percent of the patients were referred from the neighboring provinces and 32% were transferred from the centers within the city. The age range was between 0 and 28 (5.6±6.4 day) days. The SNAP-II scores upon admission ranged between 0 and 90 (mean: 20±20.3). None of the patients was diagnosed prenatally. The most common diagnoses included transposition of the great arteries (33.7%) and pulmonary atresia (19.3%). Nineteen (22%) patients were lost in the neonatal intensive care unit. There was a significant relationship between the mortality and the SNAP-II scores (p=0.0001) and use of vasopressors (p=0.004). The diagnosis, gender, use of alprostadil and age were not related to mortality. Three patients were discharged following planning of elective surgery and 60 patients were referred to a tertiary center by air ambulance. The results of our study indicated that prenatal diagnosis could not be made in neonates with congenital heart disease requiring intervention in our region. The mortality rates of these patients were related to the severity of the clinical status at presentation rather than to the age, gender and type of congenital heart disease. The mortality was much higher in the patients who developed circulatory failure. Most of the patients who survived were sent by air ambulance to the centers where the intervention was to be performed.