Background: Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is typically treated in infancy but often done late in many resource-limited countries, jeopardizing surgical outcomes. This study examined the early results of children undergoing primary complete TOF repair at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Tanzania, an emerging cardiac center in Eastern Africa.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study of children ≤ 18 years undergoing primary TOF complete repair between 2019 and 2021 was conducted. Patients with complex TOF and those with obvious genetic syndrome were excluded. Data on socio-demography, pre-and postoperative cardiac complications, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and hospital stay, and in-hospital and 30-day mortality were analyzed. Logistic regressions were employed to find the factors for mortality, ICU, and hospital stays.
Results: The I02 children underwent primary TOF complete repair were majority male (65.7%; n = 67), with a median age of 3.0 years (IQR: 2-6), ranging from 3 months to 17 years.Only 20 patients (19.6%) were below one year of age. Almost all (90%; n = 92) were underweight, with a mean BMI of 14.6 + 3.1 kg/m2 Haematocrits were high, with a median of 48.7 (IQR: 37.4-59.0). The median oxygen saturation was 81% (IQR:72-93). Over a third of patients (38.2%; n = 39) needed Trans annular patch (TAP) during surgery. The median ICU stay was 72 h (IQR:48-120), with ICU duration exceeding three days for most patients. The median hospital stay was 8.5 days (IQR:7-11), with 70 patients (68.2%)experiencing an extended hospital stay of > 7 days. Bacterial sepsis was more common than surgical site infection (5.6%; n = 6 vs. 0.9%;n = 1). No patient needed re-operation for the period of follow up. The in-hospital mortality rate was 5.9%, with no deaths occurring in children less than one year of age nor after discharge during the 30-day follow-up period. No statistically significant differences were observed in outcomes in relation to age, sex, levels of hematocrit and saturations, presence of medical illnesses, and placement of TAP.
Conclusion: TOF repairs in this African setting at a national cardiac referral hospital face challenges associated with patients' older age and compromised nutritional status during the surgery. Perioperative mortality rates and morbidity for patients operated at an older age remain elevated. It's important to address these issues to improve outcomes in these settings.
Keywords: Low-middle-income setting; Surgical outcomes; Tetralogy of fallot.
© 2024. The Author(s).