Gestational Age and Outcomes in Critical Congenital Heart Disease

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It is unknown how gestational age (GA) impacts neonatal morbidities in infants with critical congenital heart disease (CCHD). We aim to quantify GA-specific mortality and neonatal morbidity in infants with CCHD. METHODS: Cohort study using a database linking birth certificate, infant hospital discharge, readmission, and death records, including infants 22 to 42 weeks’ GA without chromosomal anomalies (2005–2012, 2 988 925 live births). The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnostic and procedure codes were used to define CCHD and neonatal morbidities (intraventricular hemorrhage, retinopathy, periventricular leukomalacia, chronic lung disease, necrotizing enterocolitis). Adjusted absolute risk differences (ARDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. RESULTS: We identified 6903 out of 2 968 566 (0.23%) infants with CCHD. The incidence of CCHD was highest at 29 to 31 weeks’ GA (0.9%) and lowest at 39 to 42 weeks (0.2%). Combined neonatal morbidity or mortality in infants with and without CCHD was 82.8% and 57.9% at CONCLUSIONS: Infants born with CCHD are at high risk of neonatal morbidity. Morbidity remains increased across all GA groups in comparison with infants born at 39 to 42 weeks. This substantial risk of neonatal morbidity is important to consider when caring for this patient population.