Neonatal outcomes in preterm infants with severe congenital heart disease: a national cohort analysis

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Abstract
Background: Prematurity and congenital heart disease (CHD) are the leading causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Limited data are available about the outcomes of premature infants with severe CHD.Methods: We queried The National Inpatient Database using ICD-10 codes for premature patients (p < 0.001). Premature infants with severe CHD had a significantly higher incidence of neonatal morbidities including necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) [OR = 4.88 (4.51–5.27)], interventricular hemorrhage [OR = 6.22 (5.57–6.95)], periventricular leukomalacia [OR = 3.21 (2.84–3.64)] and bronchopulmonary dysplasia [OR = 8.26 (7.50–10.06) compared to preterm infants of similar GA without CHD. Shunt lesions had the highest incidence of NEC (8.5%) compared to 5.3% in cyanotic CHD and 3.7% in left-sided lesions (p < 0.001). Mortality was significantly higher in premature infants with CHD compared to control [11.6% vs. 2.5%, p < 0.001]. Shunt lesions had significantly higher mortality (11.0%) compared to those with left-sided lesions (8.3%) and cyanotic CHD (6.4%), p < 0.001.Conclusion: Premature infants with severe CHD are at high risk of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Morbidity remains increased across all GA groups and in all CHD categories. This significant risk of adverse outcomes is important to acknowledge when managing this patient population and when counseling their families. Future research is needed to examine the impact of specific rather than categorized congenital heart defects on neonatal outcomes.

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