Risk of Mortality and Complications in Preterm Infants with Congenital Heart Disease

Takeaway

• Preterm infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) had an increased risk of in-hospital mortality, necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), sepsis and prolonged invasive respiratory support, but a lower risk of intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) compared with those without CHD.

• The risk of in-hospital mortality was higher in moderate to late preterm infants with CHD.

Why this matters

• Few studies have evaluated the effect of CHD on mortality and morbidity in preterm infants and many have excluded those born either extremely preterm or late/moderately preterm.

Study design

• A retrospective case-control study included 247 preterm infants with CHD born at <36 weeks’ gestation between 2004 and 2017 and 494 matched control participants.

• Funding: None.

Key results

• Preterm infants with CHD vs control group had a significantly increased risk of in-hospital mortality (OR, 7.39; 95% CI, 4.37-12.5; P<.001).

• Preterm infants with CHD vs control group had a higher risk of (OR; 95% CI):

  • NEC (2.42; 1.32-4.45; P=.005);

  • sepsis (1.68; 1.23-2.28; P=.001); and

  • invasive respiratory support of ≥28 days (2.34; 1.19-4.58; P=.017).

• Preterm infants with CHD had a lower risk of IVH (OR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.11-0.42; P=.0001).

Limitations

• Retrospective design.

This clinical summary originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.

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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: Pavankumar Kamat. Risk of Mortality and Complications in Preterm Infants with Congenital Heart Disease - Medscape - Oct 24, 2021.