Preoperative Anemia and Outcomes After Corrective Surgery in Neonates With Dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries.

Objectives: The authors aimed to assess whether untreated preoperative anemia was associated with increased risk for adverse outcomes after the arterial switch operation in neonates with dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA).

Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Single cardiac surgery center. Participants: Eighty-two newborns with d-TGA. Interventions: The authors categorized the cohort into the following two groups: the infants with preoperative anemia group (defined as a hematocrit <0.40 L/L) and the control group. Measurements and main

Results: Preoperative anemia was diagnosed in 21 (25.6%) infants. Anemic infants received intraoperative red blood cell transfusions significantly more often than controls (81.0% v 34.4%, p < 0.001). No differences were observed in the incidence of adverse events, duration of hospitalization (median 27 days v 26 days, p = 0.881), and mortality (0% v 4.9%, p = 0.566). Postnatal hematocrit was the only variable independently associated with preoperative anemia in multivariate logistic regression analysis (unit odds ratio, 0.832; 95% confidence interval, 0.743-0.931; p = 0.001).

Conclusions: Untreated preoperative anemia was not associated with adverse outcomes in neonates undergoing reparative surgery for d-TGA.