Transplantation-free survival after Norwood surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome with aortic atresia: A Swedish national cohort study

Abstract

Background:Norwood surgery has been available in Sweden since 1993. In this national cohort study, we analysed transplantation-free survival after Norwood surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome with aortic atresia.Methods:Patients were identified from the complete national cohort of live-born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome/aortic atresia 1993–2010. Analysis of survival after surgery was performed using Cox proportional hazards models for the total cohort and for birth period and gender separately. Thirty-day mortality and inter-stage mortality were analysed. Patients were followed until September 2016.Results:The 1993–2010 cohort consisted of 208 live-born infants. Norwood surgery was performed in 121/208 (58%). The overall transplantation-free survival was 61/121 (50%). The survival was higher in the late period (10-year survival 63%) than in the early period (10-year survival 40%) (p = 0.010) and lower for female (10-year survival 34%) than for male patients (10-year survival 59%) (p = 0.002). Inter-stage mortality between stages I and II decreased from 23 to 8% (p = 0.008). For male patients, low birthweight in relation to gestational age was a factor associated with poor outcome.Conclusion:The survival after Norwood surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome/aortic atresia improved by era of surgery, mainly explained by improved survival between stages I and II. Female gender was a significant risk factor for death or transplantation. For male patients, there was an increased risk of death when birthweight was lower than expected in relation to gestational age.

The Year in Review: Anesthesia for Congenital Heart Disease 2020

“…In another 2020 study, Öhman et al analyzed transplant-free survival after the Norwood operation from the Swedish national registry. 29 As in other studies, there was a reduction of 30-day and interstage mortality in the recent decade compared with the prior decade of care. Interestingly, only female gender was a significant predictor of death or transplantation across the population.…”