ABSTRACT
We present a review of our recent experience of operating on infants below 2500 g suffering from congenital heart disease. A retrospective review was performed in 73 children who had undergone cardiac operations at our institution from 1990 to 1999. There were 43 (59%) females and 30 (41%) males; the mean age at operation was 28 days (range 4 to 92). The mean gestational age was 34.7 weeks (range 24 to 41), mean birth weight--1899 g (range 700 to 2450) and mean weight at operation--2013 g (range 640 to 2500). Cardiac diagnoses included patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) (N = 21, 28.7%), ventricular septal defect (VSD) (N = 9, 12.3%), transposition of great arteries (TGA) (N = 10, 13.7%), tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) (N = 7, 9.6%), double-outlet right ventricle (DORV) (N = 4, 5.5%), truncus arteriosus communis (TAC) (N = 4, 5.5%), hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) (N = 4, 5.5%), coarctation of aorta (CoAo) (N = 6, 8.2%), total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) (N = 2, 2.7%), aortic stenosis (AoVS) (N = 3, 4.1%), interrupted aortic arch (IAA) (N = 1, 1.4%), pulmonary atresia (PA) (N = 1, 1.4%) and common atrioventricular canal (CAVC) (N = 1, 1.4%). Hospital mortality was 16.4%. There were 6 early deaths (8.2%) and 6 late deaths (8.2%). A higher mortality rate was noted in premature children and in children who had undergone palliative procedures. At a 1-116-month follow-up (mean 39 months), of 57 (93.4%) patients, 46 (80.7%) were in NYHA class I and 11 (19.3%) in NYHA class II. In conclusion the authors believe that early intervention can be performed in infants below 2500 g, and the associated mortality and morbidity rates are low.
