A Service evaluation of a hospital child death review process to elucidate understanding of contributory factors to child mortality and inform practice in the English National Health Service.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a novel approach to hospital mortality meetings to elucidate understanding of contributory factors to child death and inform practice in the National Health Service. DESIGN: All child deaths were separately reviewed at a meeting attended by professionals across the healthcare pathway, and an assessment was made of contributory factors to death across domains intrinsic to the child, family and environment, parenting capacity and service delivery. Data were analysed from a centrally held database of records. SETTING: All child deaths in a tertiary children's hospital between 1 April 2010 and 1 April 2013. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Descriptive data summarising contributory factors to child deaths. RESULTS: 95 deaths were reviewed. In 85% cases, factors intrinsic to the child provided complete explanation for death. In 11% cases, factors in the family and environment and, in 5% cases, factors in parenting capacity, contributed to patient vulnerability. In 33% cases, factors in service provision contributed to patient vulnerability and in two patients provided complete explanation for death. 26% deaths were classified as potentially preventable and in those cases factors in service provision were more commonly identified than factors across other domains (OR: 4.89; 95% CI 1.26 to 18.9). CONCLUSIONS: Hospital child death review meetings attended by professionals involved in patient management across the healthcare pathway inform understanding of events leading to a child's death. Using a bioecological approach to scrutinise contributory factors the multidisciplinary team concluded most deaths occurred as a consequence of underlying illness. Although factors relating to service provision were commonly identified, they rarely provided a complete explanation for death. Efforts to reduce child mortality should be driven by an understanding of modifiable risk factors. Systematic data collection arising from a standardised approach to hospital reviews should be the basis for national mortality review processes and database development.

Defining acidosis in postoperative cardiac patients using Stewart's method of strong ion difference.

OBJECTIVE: To define the true incidence and nature of acidosis in pediatric patients postcardiac surgery, using Stewart's direct method of measuring strong ion difference. We also wished to compare the ability of standard indirect methods (base deficit, lactate, anion gap, and corrected anion gap) to accurately predict tissue acidosis. DESIGN: A single-center prospective observational study. SETTING: A pediatric intensive care unit in a tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Pediatric patients who had undergone cardiac surgery were studied in the immediate postoperative period. Patients who had undergone both open and closed cardiac surgery were included. INTERVENTIONS: Routine arterial blood gas analysis and laboratory electrolyte measurements were made in patients immediately on admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) after cardiac surgery and each morning until discharge from the PICU. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Figge's equations were used to calculate strong ion difference and total tissue acids (unmeasured acids and lactate). These direct methods then were compared to indirect measurements: base deficit, lactate anion gap, and anion gap corrected for albumin. We collected 150 samples from 44 patients. Tissue acidosis occurred overall in 60 of 150 samples. This was due to raised unmeasured acids alone in 44 of 60 (73.3%), raised lactate alone in six of 60 (10%), and a combination of the two in ten of 60 (16.6%). Hyperchloremia occurred in 19 of 150 samples overall and 12 of 25 (48%) samples immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass. Measured base deficit showed a poor correlation with true tissue acidosis (r = -.48, p <.001) and the worst discriminatory ability (area under the curve, 0.72; 0.62-0.82). Anion gap corrected for albumin had the best correlation (r =.95, p <.001) and highest area under the curve (0.90; 0.85-0.95). CONCLUSIONS: Metabolic acidosis occurs frequently postcardiac surgery and is largely due to raised unmeasured acids and less commonly raised lactate. Hyperchloremia is common, particularly after cardiopulmonary bypass. Base deficit correlates poorly with true tissue acidosis, and corrected anion gap offers the most accurate bedside alternative to Stewart's method of tissue acid calculation.