• Jeng-Hung Wu, En-Ting Wu, Heng-Wen Chou, Ching-Chia Wang, Frank Leigh Lu, Yi-Chia Wang, Chi-Hisang Huang, Shyh-Jye Chen, Yih-Sharng Chen, and Shu-Chien Huang.
• Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2024 Nov 1; 25 (11): e438e446e438-e446.

ObjectivesAirway anomalies increase risk of morbidity and mortality in postoperative pediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). We aimed to identify airway anomalies and the association with intermediate outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for CHD.DesignSingle-center, hospital-based retrospective study in Taiwan, 2017-2020.SettingA tertiary referral hospital in Taiwan.PatientsAll pediatric patients who underwent surgery for CHD and were admitted to the PICU and had data about airway evaluation by cardiopulmonary CT scan or bronchoscopy.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsAmong 820 CHD patients identified as having undergone airway evaluation in the PICU, 185 (22.6%) were diagnosed with airway anomalies, including structural lesions in 146 of 185 (78.9%), and dynamic problems were seen in 87 of 185 (47.0%). In this population, the explanatory factors associated with greater odds (odds ratio [OR]) of airway anomaly were premature birth (OR, 1.90; p = 0.002), genetic syndromes (OR, 2.60; p < 0.001), and in those with preoperative ventilator use (OR, 4.28; p < 0.001). In comparison to those without airway anomalies, the presence of airway anomalies was associated with higher hospital mortality (11.4% vs. 2.7%; p < 0.001), prolonged intubation days (8 d [1-27 d] vs. 1 d [1-5 d]; p < 0.001), longer PICU length of stay (23 d [8-81 d] vs. 7 d [4-18 d]; p < 0.001), and greater hazard of intermediate mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.60; p = 0.001).ConclusionsIn our single-center retrospective study, 2017-2020, between one-in-five and one-in-four of our postoperative CHD patients undergoing an airway evaluation had airway anomalies. Factors associated with greater odds of airway anomaly included, those with premature birth, or genetic syndromes, and preoperative ventilator use. Overall, in patients undergoing airway evaluation, the finding of an airway anomalies was associated with longer postoperative intubation duration and greater hazard of intermediate mortality.Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.

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