Incidence, Mortality, and Characteristics of 18 Pediatric Perioperative Cardiac Arrests: An Observational Trial From 22,650 Pediatric Anesthesias in a German Tertiary Care Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Recently, a very low incidence of 3 per 10,000 and a mortality of 30% were reported for pediatric perioperative cardiac arrest (POCA). However, high-risk patients, namely children already anesthetized on the intensive care unit (ICU), were excluded. This study investigates the incidence and mortality of POCA in children in whom anesthesia was induced in the ICU or in the operating room using real-world data. In addition, different classifications of POCA were compared with respect to outcome relevance. METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study conducted at a German level 1 perinatal center and tertiary care hospital between 2008 and 2018. Children ≤15 years who underwent an anesthetic procedure and suffered from POCA (defined as any condition requiring chest compressions and/or defibrillation) from the beginning of care provided by an anesthesiologist to 60 minutes after anesthesia or sedation were included. Primary end points were incidence and mortality of POCA in children with anesthesia induced in the ICU versus in the operating room. Secondary end points included incidences and outcomes with respect to the pathophysiological cause (respiratory versus circulatory associated). RESULTS: There were 18 POCA during 22,650 anesthetic procedures (incidence 7.9 per 10,000; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.7-12.5). Thirty-day mortality was 3.5 per 10,000 (95% CI, 1.5-6.9). Incidence and mortality were higher in children in whom anesthesia was induced in the ICU versus in the operating room (incidence: 131.6; 95% CI, 57 to 257.6 versus 4.5; 95% CI, 2.2-8.3; P < .001; and mortality: 82.2; 95% CI, 26.7-190.8 versus 1.4; 95% CI, 0.3-3.9; P < .001). Mortality in circulatory-induced POCA (n = 8; 44%) was 100%, in respiratory-induced POCA (n = 9; 50%) 0% (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Children with anesthesia induction in the ICU represent a high-risk population for POCA and POCA-associated mortality. POCA classification should be based on the individual cause (respiratory versus circulatory) rather than on the perioperative phase or the responsible specialty.

Incidence, characteristics and risk factors for perioperative cardiac arrest and 30-day-mortality in preterm infants requiring non-cardiac surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine 30-day-mortality, incidence and characteristics of perioperative cardiac arrest as well as the respective independent risk factors in preterm infants undergoing non-cardiac surgery. DESIGN: Retrospective observational Follow-up-study. SETTING: Bielefeld University Hospital, a German tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: Population of 229 preterm infants (age < 37th gestational week at the time of surgery) who underwent non-cardiac surgery between 01/2008-12/2018. MEASUREMENTS: Primary endpoint was overall 30-day-mortality. Secondary endpoints were the incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest and identification of independent risk factors. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses and calculated odds ratios (OR) for risk factors associated with these endpoints. MAIN RESULTS: 30-day-mortality was 10.9% and perioperative mortality 0.9%. Univariate risk factors for 30-day-mortality were perioperative cardiac arrest (OR,12.5;95%CI,3.1 to 50.3), comorbidities of lungs (OR,3.7;95%CI,1.2 to 11.3) and gastrointestinal tract (OR,3.5;95%CI,1.3 to 9.6); sepsis (OR,3.6;95%CI,1.4 to 9.5); surgery between 22:01-7:00 (OR,7.3;95%CI,2.4 to 21.7); emergency (OR,4.5;95%CI,1.6 to 12.4); pre-existing catecholamine therapy (OR,5.0;95%CI,2.1 to 11.9). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that perioperative cardiac arrest (OR,13.9;95%CI,2.7 to 71.3), low body weight (weight < 1000 g: OR,26.0;95%CI,3.2 to 212; 1000-1499 g: OR,10.3; 95%CI,1.1 to 94.9 compared to weight > 2000 g), and time of surgery (OR,5.9;95%CI,1.6 to 21.3) for 22:01-7:00 compared to 7:01-15:00) were the major independent risk factors of mortality. Incidence of perioperative cardiac arrests was 3.9% (9 of 229;95%CI,1.8 to 7.3). Univariate risk factors were congenital anomalies of the airways (OR,4.7;95%CI,1.2 to 20.3), lungs (OR,4.7;95%CI,1.2 to 20.3) and heart (OR,8.0;95%CI,2 to 32.2), pre-existing catecholamine therapy (OR,59.5;95%CI,3.4 to 1039), specifically, continuous infusions of epinephrine (OR,432;95%CI,43.2 to 4318). CONCLUSIONS: 30-day-mortality and the incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest of preterms undergoing non-cardiac surgery were higher than previously reported. The identified independent risk factors may improve interdisciplinary perioperative risk assessment, optimal preoperative stabilization and scheduling of optimal surgical timing.

The impact of preoperative neurological events in patients suffering from native infective valve endocarditis.

OBJECTIVES: Infective native valve endocarditis (NVE) complicated by a preoperative neurological event still remains a surgical challenge. Particularly, great uncertainty exists with regard to the optimal timing of surgery. We call for a multidisciplinary team approach for individualized risk estimation and analysed our experience obtained over the past decade. METHODS: Between 1997 and 2012, a total of 495 patients underwent valve surgery for the treatment of NVE. Of these, 70 (14.1%) patients suffered from NVE complicated by an acute neurological event and formed the study group. The remaining 425 (85.9%) patients served as the control group. The mean age of the predominantly male (80.0%) study population was 54 ± 14 years. EuroSCORE and EuroSCORE II predicted a high surgical risk (24.9 ± 6.8 and 10.8 ± 8.1%, respectively). The mean follow-up time was 4.0 ± 3.1 years, ranging up to 15.6 years with an interquartile range from 1.7 to 5.4 years. An interdisciplinary team consisting of a cardiac surgeon, a cardiologist and a neurologist made the decision for surgery. RESULTS: Observed neurological deficits mainly consisted of ischaemic stroke (75.7%), meningoencephalitis (12.9%) and intracerebral haemorrhage (8.6%). The mean time interval between the neurological event and surgery was 8.7 ± 10.3 days for all patients, 8.0 ± 7.0 days for ischaemic stroke and 17 ± 24 days for intracerebral haemorrhage. Postoperatively, most of the patients experienced no change (22.9%) or even improvement (67.1%) of their neurological symptoms. Only 10.0% showed further deterioration of their neurological status. This was particularly true for patients suffering from intracerebral haemorrhage, with 33.3% experiencing further neurological impairment. The presence of a preoperative neurological event was identified as an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality (OR 2.66; 95% CI: 1.02-6.78; P = 0.046) but not for mortality during further follow-up (P = 0.257). The hospital mortality rate was 17.2%; and the 1-, 5- and 10-year survival rates were 74.3, 68 ± 5.0 and 67.1 ± 9.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: NVE complicated by neurological events remains a challenging disease with high mortality and morbidity. Cardiac surgery seemed to be safe in the observed time interval, particularly for patients suffering from ischaemic stroke. A multidisciplinary approach is advocated for very individualized risk estimation.