Table 8-4.

Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease

	Sample	Population, Weighted
Surgery for congenital heart disease, n	14 888	25 831
Deaths, n	736	1253
Mortality rate, %	4.9	4.8
By sex (81 missing in sample)
Males	8127	14 109
Deaths, n	420	714
Mortality rate, %	5.2	5.1
Females	6680	11 592
Deaths, n	315	539
Mortality rate, %	4.7	4.6
By type of surgery
ASD secundum surgery, n	834	1448
Deaths, n	3	6
Mortality rate, %	0.4	0.4
Norwood procedure for HPLHS, n	161	286
Deaths, n	42	72
Mortality rate, %	26.1	25.2

ASD indicates atrial septal defect; HPLHS, hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

In 2003, 25 000 cardiovascular operations for congenital cardiovascular defects were performed on children <20 years of age. Inpatient mortality rate after all types of cardiac surgery was 4.8%. Nevertheless, mortality risk varies substantially for different defect types, from 0.4% for ASD repair to 25.2% for first-stage palliation for HPLHS. Fifty-five percent of operations were performed in males. In unadjusted analysis, mortality after cardiac surgery was somewhat higher for males than for females (5.1% versus 4.6%).

Source: Analysis of 2003 Kids’ Inpatient Database, HCUPnet, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov), and personal communication with Kathy Jenkins, MD, Children’s Hospital of Boston, October 1, 2006.