Congenital diaphragmatic hernia: postnatal predictors of mortality

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) prevalence is low while its associated morbidity and mortality rates are high. Postnatal prognostic factors on the first day of life are useful for predicting the outcome.

To determine the mortality predictive ability of postnatal echocardiographic, clinical, and biochemical factors among newborn infants with CDH in their first day of life.

Observational analytical study of a retrospective cohort. Patients with CDH were consecutively included between March 2012 and November 2018. On the first day of life, analyzed predictors were the oxygenation index (OI), the highest partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) level in blood, the SNAPPE II severity score, the echocardiography, and the N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) value.

The population consisted of 178 patients with CDH. Survival was 75 %. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was used in 24 %. The early onset of systemic or suprasystemic pulmonary hypertension showed no predictive ability (OR: 2.2, 95 % CI: 0.8-8), p = 0.1. NT-proBNP did not show good discrimination either (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.46, p = 0.67). The OI, SNAPPE II score, and the highest pCO2 level showed adequate discrimination power, AUC for OI: 0.82, AUC for SNAPPE II: 0.86, and AUC for pCO2: 0.75, p < 0.001.

The SNAPPE II score, the OI, and the highest pCO2 level measured on the first day of life, showed a good predictive ability in terms of the course of the disease; the SNAPPE II score was better than the OI and the highest pCO2 level.