Lesion-specific mortality due to congenital heart disease in U.S. adults from 1999 to 2017

Survival From Birth Until Young Adulthood Among Individuals With Congenital Heart Defects: CH STRONG

BACKGROUND

Limited population-based information is available on long-term survival of US individuals with congenital heart defects (CHDs). Therefore, we assessed patterns in survival from birth until young adulthood (ie, 35 years of age) and associated factors among a population-based sample of US individuals with CHDs.

METHODS

Individuals born between 1980 and 1997 with CHDs identified in 3 US birth defect surveillance systems were linked to death records through 2015 to identify those deceased and the year of their death. Kaplan-Meier survival curves, adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) for infant mortality (ie, death during the first year of life), and Cox proportional hazard ratios for survival after the first year of life (aHRs) were used to estimate the probability of survival and associated factors. Standardized mortality ratios compared infant mortality, >1-year mortality, >10-year mortality, and >20-year mortality among individuals with CHDs with general population estimates.

RESULTS

Among 11 695 individuals with CHDs, the probability of survival to 35 years of age was 81.4% overall, 86.5% among those without co-occurring noncardiac anomalies, and 92.8% among those who survived the first year of life. Characteristics associated with both infant mortality and reduced survival after the first year of life, respectively, included severe CHDs (aRR=4.08; aHR=3.18), genetic syndromes (aRR=1.83; aHR=3.06) or other noncardiac anomalies (aRR=1.54; aHR=2.53), low birth weight (aRR=1.70; aHR=1.29), and Hispanic (aRR=1.27; aHR=1.42) or non-Hispanic Black (aRR=1.43; aHR=1.80) maternal race and ethnicity. Individuals with CHDs had higher infant mortality (standardized mortality ratio=10.17), >1-year mortality (standardized mortality ratio=3.29), and >10-year and >20-year mortality (both standardized mortality ratios ≈1.5) than the general population; however, after excluding those with noncardiac anomalies, >1-year mortality for those with nonsevere CHDs and >10-year and >20-year mortality for those with any CHD were similar to the general population.

CONCLUSIONS

Eight in 10 individuals with CHDs born between1980 and 1997 survived to 35 years of age, with disparities by CHD severity, noncardiac anomalies, birth weight, and maternal race and ethnicity. Among individuals without noncardiac anomalies, those with nonsevere CHDs experienced similar mortality between 1 and 35 years of age as in the general population, and those with any CHD experienced similar mortality between 10 and 35 years of age as in the general population.

Lesion-Specific Congenital Heart Disease Mortality Trends in Children: 1999 to 2017

OBJECTIVE

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of premature death in infants and children. Currently limited data are available regarding lesion specific mortality over time. Our study aimed to describe pediatric mortality trends by CHD lesion in the United States.

METHODS

We conducted a 19 year analysis (1999 to 2017) of publicly available, deidentified multiple cause of death data compiled and produced by the National Center for Health Statistics. Analysis was stratified by CHD diagnosis and age using 3 age categories (infants, 1 to 4 years, and 5 to 17 years). Temporal trends of CHD mortality and the effect of contributing risk factors were analyzed by using joinpoint regression.

RESULTS

Mortality was highest for in infants for all CHD lesions, in particular for total anomalous pulmonary venous return. Significant declines in infant CHD mortality occurred for most other lesions. Contributing risk factors, including prematurity, extracardiac birth defects, and genetic conditions, occurred in 19% of infant CHD deaths and demonstrated worse mortality trends in the majority of lesions. Mortality rates remained highest for single ventricle lesions in all ages, with an infant mortality rate plateau in the later half of the study and progressive increasing mortality rates for children 5 to 17 years.

CONCLUSIONS

CHD mortality is decreasing for most lesions. Because of the heterogenicity of CHD lesions, there is expected variability in mortality trends by lesion and age group. Single ventricle lesions continue to contribute most heavily to premature death because of CHD demonstrated by significant increases in mortality rate for children aged 5 to 17 years.