Survival of Patients with High-Risk Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated with Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a common complication of congenital heart disease (CHD) with uncorrected left-to-right shunts. Currently, no consensus guideline exists on the management of PAH-CHD in children, especially those who do not meet operability criteria. Objective: To compare survival between three groups of high-risk PAH-CHD, group 1: total correction including both surgical and percutaneous intervention, group 2: palliative treatment, and group 3: conservative with medical treatment group. Materials and Methods: All pediatric patients with PAH-CHD that underwent cardiac catheterization between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were high risk PAH-CHD patients who had pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) greater than 6 Wood unit·m² and PVR-to-SVR ratio greater than 0.3 evaluated in room air. Exclusion criteria were younger than three months of age, severe left side heart disease with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure greater than 15 mmHg, obstructive total pulmonary venous return, and single ventricle physiology. The Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed from the date of PAH diagnosis to the date of all-cause mortality or to censored date at last follow-up. Results: Seventy-six patients with a median age at diagnosis of 27.5 months (IQR 14.5 to 69.0 months) were included in this study. The patients were divided into three subgroups and included 38 patients (50.0%) in group 1, six patients (7.9%) in group 2, and 32 patients (42.1%) in group 3. The median follow-up time was 554 days (IQR 103 to 2,133 days). The overall mortality was 21.7%. One-year survival in patients with simple lesion in group 1 and 3 were 79.5% and 87.5% and patients with complex lesions in group 1, 2, and 3 were 93.8%, 83.3%, and 73.1%, respectively. The results showed that most mortalities occurred in the first year. There were no statistically significant differences in survival among difference types of treatment (log rank test, p=0.522). Conclusion: The mortality of high-risk PAH-CHD patients were not different among those who underwent corrective surgery, palliative, or conservative treatment. The mortality was high in the first year after PAH diagnosis and remain stable afterward. Management decision for an individual with high-risk PAH-CHD patients requires comprehensive clinical assessment to balance the risks and benefits before making individualized clinical judgment. Keywords: Pulmonary hypertension; Congenital heart disease; High-risk patients