Impact of concomitant complex cardiac anatomy in nonsyndromic patients with complete atrioventricular septal defect

We studied a cohort of patients with nonsyndromic complete atrioventricular septal defect with and without concomitant complex cardiac anatomy and compared the outcomes after surgical repair.

Between 1993 and 2018, 62 nonsyndromic patients underwent complete atrioventricular septal defect repair. Sixteen patients (26%) had complex complete atrioventricular septal defect with variables representing concomitant cardiac anatomic complexity: tetralogy of Fallot, double outlet right ventricle, total anomalous pulmonary venous return, concomitant aortic arch reconstruction, multiple ventricular septal defects, staged repair of coarctation of the aorta, and a persisting left superior vena cava. The mean follow-up was 12.7 ± 7.9 years. Baseline variables were retrospectively evaluated and analyzed using univariable logistic regression. Survival was studied using Kaplan-Meier estimates, and group comparisons were performed using the log-rank test. A competing-risk analysis estimated the risk of reoperation with death as the competing event. A Gray's test was used to test equality of the cumulative incidence curves between groups.

The perioperative mortality was 3.2% (2/62). Actuarial survival was 100% versus 66.7% ± 14.9% at 10 years in the noncomplex and complex groups, respectively (P < .01). There was no significant difference in the overall reoperation rate between the noncomplex group (7/46; 15%) and the complex group (4/16; 25%) (odds ratio, 1.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.46-7.45; P = .30). The competing-risk analysis demonstrated no significant difference in reoperation between the groups (P = .28).

Our data show that nonsyndromic patients without complex cardiac anatomy have a good long-term survival and an acceptable risk of reoperation similar to contemporary outcomes for patients with complete atrioventricular septal defect with trisomy 21. However, the corresponding group of nonsyndromic patients with concomitant complex cardiac lesions are still a high-risk population, especially regarding mortality.