Cardiac Arrest in Children Following Cardiac Surgery: A Scoping Review of Contributing Factors

Abstract

Nearly half of children experiencing cardiac arrest following cardiac surgery do not survive hospital discharge and patients who survive often experience significant neurological impairment. Additionally, increased resource utilization following cardiac arrest translates into adverse logistical and financial consequences. Although some studies have identified patient characteristics that increase the risk of cardiac arrest after pediatric cardiac surgery, modifiable risk factors, which could provide a foundation for effective prevention strategies, have been elusive. This scoping review explores the current knowledge surrounding risk factors associated with cardiac arrest in children following cardiac surgery and provides recommendations for future research.

Causes of Perioperative Cardiac Arrest: Mnemonic, Classification, Monitoring, and Actions

“…We summarized the POCA causes reported by cohort studies (Table 2). 1,2,[4][5][6]8,17,[21][22][23][24][25] We included risk factors in this summary; however, risk factors differ from causes, as a risk factor indicates an association, and association differs from causation. The summary demonstrated that the reported POCA risk factors and causes are abundantly diverse.…”

Bridging Heartbeats: The Promise of Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care*

“…Nearly half of them do not survive hospital discharge, and the survivors often experience significant long-term neurodevelopmental disability (1, 2). Furthermore, the increased resource utilization following cardiac arrest presents logistical and financial challenges (3).…”

Invited Commentary: An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure: Advancing the Search for Modifiable Factors Associated With Cardiac Arrest

“…In this issue of the World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery , Riley and colleagues present the results of a scoping review to identify both modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors associated with CA after pediatric cardiac surgery. 10 Their use of a scoping review format, instead of a systematic review, was appropriately chosen to allow for a more expansive overview of emerging evidence of varied risk factors and to identify knowledge gaps in this field of study. From the review of currently available literature, Riley et al identified 13 articles that met their inclusion criteria of studies evaluating CA in the postoperative period.…”