Factors associated with poor outcomes after congenital heart surgery in low-resource setting in Pakistan: insight from the IQIC Registry – a descriptive analysis

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the International Quality Improvement Collaborative single-site data from a developing country to identify trends in outcomes and factors associated with poor outcomes.DesignRetrospective descriptive study.SettingThe National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan.ParticipantsPatients undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD).Outcome measureKey factors were examined, including preoperative, procedural and demographic data, as well as surgical complications and outcomes. We identified risk factors for mortality, bacterial sepsis and 30-day mortality using multivariable logistic regression.ResultsA total of 3367 CHD surgical cases were evaluated; of these, 59.4% (2001) were male and 82.8% (2787) were between the ages of 1 and 17 years. Only 0.2% (n=6) were infants (≤30 days) and 2.3% (n=77) were adults (≥18 years). The in-hospital mortality rate was 6.7% (n=224), and 4.4% (n=147) and 0.8% (n=27) had bacterial sepsis and surgical site infections, respectively. The 30-day status was known for 90.8% (n=3058) of the patients, of whom 91.6% (n=2800) were alive. On multivariable analysis, the adjusted OR for in-hospital mortality was 0.40 (0.29–0.56) for teenagers compared with infancy/childhood and 1.95 (1.45–2.61) for patients with oxygen saturation <85%. Compared with Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery (RACHS-1) risk category 1, the adjusted OR for in-hospital mortality was 1.78 (1.1–2.87) for RACHS-1 risk category 3 and 2.92 (1.03–8.31) for categories 4–6. The adjusted OR for 30-day mortality was 0.40 (0.30–0.55) for teenagers and 1.52 (1.16–1.98) for patients with oxygen saturation <85%. The 30-day mortality rate was significantly higher in RACHS-1 risk category 3 compared with category 1, with an adjusted OR of 1.64 (1.06–2.55).ConclusionsWe observed a high prevalence of postoperative infections and mortality, especially for high-risk procedures, according to RACHS-1 risk category, in infancy/childhood, in children with genetic syndrome or those with low oxygen saturation (<85%).