Timing of Balloon Atrial Septostomy in Patients with d-TGA and Association with Birth Location and Patient Outcomes

Patients with d-looped transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA), especially those without an adequate atrial septal defect, can experience severe hypoxemia and hemodynamic compromise in the neonatal period. This can be mitigated by urgent balloon atrial septostomy (BAS). However, some patients with d-TGA are born at centers without this capability. The aim of this retrospective study of d-TGA patients who had urgent or emergent BAS at our institution between 2010 and 2021 was to evaluate time from birth to BAS for infants born at a tertiary care center as compared to those requiring transport from other institutions and to examine correlation between time to BAS and patient outcomes. Our primary outcome was time from birth to BAS. Secondary outcomes included hospital and ICU length of stay, mortality, and evidence of pulmonary or neurologic abnormalities including pulmonary hypertension, abnormal neuroimaging, or seizures. Of 96 patients, 67 (70%) were born at our institution. The median time to BAS was 4 hours for patients born at our institution vs. 14.1 hours for those born elsewhere (p