2019 Volume 35 Issue 4 Pages 271-276
Background: For children with congenital heart disease (CHD) resulting from trisomy 18, we do not perform intracardiac repair; instead, we opt for palliative surgery when their parents wish to proceed with surgical intervention.
Methods: From hospital medical records, we retrospectively identified 17 patients whose attending physicians had consulted our department between January 2010 and September 2016. We classified patients into two groups: those who required surgical intervention for CHD to promote transition to the home environment and who underwent surgery with parental consent (Group I: 5 patients), and those who did not require surgical intervention for CHD and did not undergo surgery (Group N: 12 patients). We compared the ease of transition to life in the patient’s own home between Group I and Group N.
Results: The median survival of the patients was 427 days in Group I and 173.5 days in Group N (p＝0.0534). The median number of days spent in the patients’ own homes was 647 days in Group I and 72 days in Group N (p＝0.0495).
Conclusion: Palliative surgery for CHD in patients with trisomy 18 extended the period of time that patients and their families could spend together in the home environment following hospital discharge.
