COVID-19 in congenital heart disease (COaCHeD) study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has caused significant worldwide morbidity and mortality. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is likely to increase vulnerability and understanding the predictors of adverse outcomes is key to optimising care. OBJECTIVE: Ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on people with CHD and define risk factors for adverse outcomes. METHODS: Multicentre UK study undertaken 1 March 2020-30 June 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected on CHD diagnoses, clinical presentation and outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression with multiple imputation was performed to explore predictors of death and hospitalisation. RESULTS: There were 405 reported cases (127 paediatric/278 adult). In children (age <16 years), there were 5 (3.9%) deaths. Adjusted ORs (AORs) for hospitalisation in children were significantly lower with each ascending year of age (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.96 (p<0.01)). In adults, there were 24 (8.6%) deaths (19 with comorbidities) and 74 (26.6%) hospital admissions. AORs for death in adults were significantly increased with each year of age (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.10 (p<0.01)) and with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH; OR 5.99, 95% CI 1.34 to 26.91 (p=0.02)). AORs for hospitalisation in adults were significantly higher with each additional year of age (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.05 (p=0.04)), additional comorbidities (OR 3.23, 95% CI 1.31 to 7.97 (p=0.01)) and genetic disease (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.04 to 7.94 (p=0.04)). CONCLUSIONS: Children were at low risk of death and hospitalisation secondary to COVID-19 even with severe CHD, but hospital admission rates were higher in younger children, independent of comorbidity. In adults, higher likelihood of death was associated with increasing age and PAH, and of hospitalisation with age, comorbidities and genetic disease. An individualised approach, based on age and comorbidities, should be taken to COVID-19 management in patients with CHD.

Performance of a single-ventricle home-monitoring programme: survival and predictors of adverse outcome.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND: Mortality between stages 1 and 2 single-ventricle palliation is significant. Home-monitoring programmes are suggested to reduce mortality. Outcomes and risk factors for adverse outcomes for European programmes have not been published. AIMS: To evaluate the performance of a home-monitoring programme at a medium-sized United Kingdom centre with regards survival and compare performance with other home-monitoring programmes in the literature. METHODS: All fetal and postnatal diagnosis of a single ventricle were investigated with in-depth analysis of those undergoing stage 1 palliation and entered the home-monitoring programme between 2016 and 2020. The primary outcome was survival. Secondary outcomes included multiple parameters as potential predictors of death or adverse outcome. RESULTS: Of 217 fetal single-ventricle diagnoses during the period 2016-2020, 50.2% progressed to live birth, 35.4% to stage 1 and 29.5% to stage 2. Seventy-four patients (including 10 with postnatal diagnosis) entered the home-monitoring programme with six deaths making home-monitoring programme mortality 8.1%. Risk factors for death were the hybrid procedure as the only primary procedure (OR 33.0, p < 0.01), impaired cardiac function (OR 10.3, p < 0.025), Asian ethnicity (OR 9.3, p < 0.025), lower mean birth-weight (2.69 kg versus 3.31 kg, p < 0.01), and lower mean weight centiles during interstage follow-up (mean centiles of 3.1 versus 10.8, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Survival in the home-monitoring programme is comparable with other home-monitoring programmes in the literature. Hybrid procedure, cardiac dysfunction, sub-optimal weight gain, and Asian ethnicity were significant risk factors for death. Home-monitoring programmes should continue to raise awareness of these factors and seek solutions to mitigate adverse events. Future work to generalise home-monitoring programme and single-ventricle fetus to stage 2 outcomes in the United Kingdom will require multi-centre collaboration.