Impact of respiratory syncytial virus infection on surgery for congenital heart disease: Postoperative course and outcome

Objectives: a) To describe the postoperative course and outcome of cardiac surgery in children with recent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection ; and b) to evaluate whether timing of surgery has any impact on the outcom e. Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Intensive care unit and medical and surgical wards of a teaching p ediatric hospital. Patients: Twenty-five children (aged 25 days to 3.5 yrs; median, 4 months) with congenital heart disease who had cardiac surgery within 6 months after RSV infection. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: We reviewed the clinical course and outcome of all patients. The cardiac diagnoses included ventricular septal defect ( n = 11), tetralogy of Fallot (n = 3), atrioventricular canal (n = 3), and o thers (n = 8). Thirteen patients had surgery during the same admission as R SV infection (group I), and 12 patients had surgery electively after being discharged to home after RSV infection (group II). Two patients in group I died; both of these patients had undergone total repair of tetralogy of Fal lot within 2 wks after admission for RSV infection. Postoperative complicat ions in group I patients included pulmonary hypertension (n = 5), adult res piratory distress syndrome (n = 1), tracheal stenosis (n = 1), left ventric ular dysfunction (n = 1), pericardial effusion (n = 1), secondary bacterial or fungal infection (n = 7), and deep venous thrombosis (n = 1). Of all gr oup 1 patients, the ones who were operated on early appeared to be at highe r risk for complications, especially for postoperative pulmonary hypertensi on. No patient in group II died, and only two patients had minor complicati ons tone had reactive airway disease, and the other had a transient superio r vena cava syndrome after a bidirectional Glenn operation). Conclusions: Cardiac surgery performed during the symptomatic period of RSV infection is associated with a high risk of postoperative complications, e specially postoperative pulmonary hypertension. These complications appeare d to be more frequent and of greater severity in patients who had earlier s urgery compared with those who had later surgery. More studies are needed r egarding the proper timing of cardiac surgery in patients with congenital h eart disease and RSV infection.