• Matthew E Oster, Shan Chen, Nicholas Dagincourt, Yaniv Bar-Cohen, Matthew Brothers, Nicole Cain, Steven D Colan, Richard J Czosek, Jamie A Decker, David G Gamboa, Salim F Idriss, Joel A Kirsh, Martin J LaPage, Richard G Ohye, Elizabeth Radojewski, Maully Shah, Eric S Silver, Anoop K Singh, Joel D Temple, John Triedman, Jonathan R Kaltman, and Pediatric Heart Network Investigators.
• Department of Pediatrics, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga. Electronic address: osterm@kidsheart.com.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 2017 Mar 1; 153 (3): 638-645.e2.

ObjectivesThe study objective was to determine the predictors of new-onset arrhythmia among infants with single-ventricle anomalies during the post-Norwood hospitalization and the association of those arrhythmias with postoperative outcomes (ventilator time and length of stay) and interstage mortality.MethodsAfter excluding patients with preoperative arrhythmias, we used data from the Pediatric Heart Network Single Ventricle Reconstruction Trial to identify risk factors for tachyarrhythmias (atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, junctional ectopic tachycardia, and ventricular tachycardia) and atrioventricular block (second or third degree) among 544 eligible patients. We then determined the association of arrhythmia with outcomes during the post-Norwood hospitalization and interstage period, adjusting for identified risk factors and previously published factors.ResultsTachyarrhythmias were noted in 20% of subjects, and atrioventricular block was noted in 4% of subjects. Potentially significant risk factors for tachyarrhythmia included the presence of modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (P = .08) and age at Norwood (P = .07, with risk decreasing each day at age 8-20 days); the only significant risk factor for atrioventricular block was undergoing a concomitant procedure at the time of the Norwood (P = .001), with the greatest risk being in those undergoing a tricuspid valve procedure. Both tachyarrhythmias and atrioventricular block were associated with longer ventilation time and length of stay (P < .001 for all analyses). Tachyarrhythmias were not associated with interstage mortality; atrioventricular block was associated with mortality among those without a pacemaker in the unadjusted analysis (hazard ratio, 2.3; P = .02), but not after adding covariates.ConclusionsTachyarrhythmias are common after the Norwood procedure, but atrioventricular block may portend a greater risk for interstage mortality.Copyright © 2016 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

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