Supplemental Tube Feeding Does Not Mitigate Weight Loss in Infants with Shunt-Dependent Single-Ventricle Physiology

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Abstract
Infants with shunt-dependent single-ventricle (SV) physiology are at risk for poor weight gain before superior cavopulmonary connection (SCPC). Lower weight-for-age z-score is a risk factor for prolonged length of stay (LOS) after SCPC. We sought to characterize infant growth and feeding and determine the effect of method of feeding on outcomes. Chart review of infants with shunt-dependent SV physiology born between October 2007 and September 2010 was performed. The cohort was divided into three groups based on feeding method at discharge after initial palliation; 53 in the oral feeding (PO) group, 56 in the nasogastric (NG) tube group, and 26 in the gastrostomy tube (GT) group. Birth weight z-score did not differ among groups (p = 0.39), but infants fed by NG or GT were smaller than PO-fed infants at hospital discharge (p = 0.0001), a difference that persisted through SCPC (p p = 0.008) and longer LOS after initial palliation (p

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