Abstract
Background: Determining the surgical strategy for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) who have associated anomalies of the gastrointestinal tract can be difficult; this includes the selection of the initial surgery and its timing. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate our previous surgical strategies and the results of these surgeries.
Methods: We reviewed the treatment results for 442 patients with associated anomalies of the gastrointestinal tract that were treated over the past 32 years from January 1979 to December 2011, and investigated those with CHD.
Results: Seventy-six patients had co-existing CHD. Esophageal atresia, duodenal atresia, and overlapping anomalies were frequently associated with CHD. The mortality rate of patients with CHD was higher than in patients without CHD. Among patients with CHD, the rate of initial surgeries for non-cardiac disorders was higher than the rate of initial surgeries for CHD. In patients with esophageal atresia and CHD, low birth weight and trisomy 18 were risk factors for poor outcomes.
Conclusion: The outcomes for patients with CHD who have associated gastrointestinal tract anomalies have improved. However, the outcomes for patients with esophageal atresia and CHD remain the same.
