Symptomatic Tetralogy of Fallot in Young Infants: Primary Repair or Shunt—Pediatric Health Information System Database Analysis

This study compares the early outcomes and hospital charges associated with early primary repair vs systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt for neonates and young infants. The Pediatric Health Information System database was queried for patients <90 days of age with primary diagnosis of tetralogy of Fallot who underwent nonelective surgical repair or palliation between January 2008 and December 2014. The initial cohort of 821 patients (group 1 early primary repair, N = 554; group 2 systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt, N = 267) was propensity score matched (248 patients in each group) to account for baseline imbalances in age and prostaglandin use. The analysis suggests that the two approaches are comparable with regard to morbidity, mortality and hospital resource utilization. The article is accompanied by separate Invited Commentaries, by Emile Bacha, MD and by Yves D’Udekem, MD, PhD.