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Original article
Out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest in children with congenital heart defects
  1. Jarle Jortveit1,
  2. Jakob Klcovansky2,
  3. Gaute Døhlen2,
  4. Leif Eskedal3,
  5. Sigurd Birkeland4,
  6. Henrik Holmstrøm2,5
  1. 1 Department of Cardiology, Sørlandet Hospital, Arendal, Norway
  2. 2 Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  3. 3 Department of Research, Sørlandet Hospital, Kristiansand, Norway
  4. 4 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  5. 5 Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  1. Correspondence to Jarle Jortveit, Department of Cardiology, Sørlandet Hospital, Arendal, Box 783, Stoa, Arendal 4809, Norway; jarle.jortveit{at}sshf.no

Abstract

Aims Out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a rare but devastating event in children and adolescents. The risk is assumed to be higher in children with congenital heart defects (CHDs) than in healthy individuals. The aim of the present study was to investigate the rate of and survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in children 2–18 years old with CHDs.

Methods and results Data concerning all live births in Norway between 1994 and 2009 were retrieved from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, the patient administrative systems at all hospitals in Norway, the Oslo University Hospital’s Clinical Registry for Congenital Heart Defects and the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. Survivors were followed through 2012, and supplementary information for the deceased children was retrieved from medical records at Norwegian hospitals. Among the 943 871 live births in Norway from 1994 to 2009, 11 272 (1.2%) children had a CHD. We identified 11 (0.1%) children 2–18 years old with CHDs who experienced out-of-hospital SCA. The estimated rate of out-of-hospital SCA in children 2–18 years old with CHD was 10 per 100 000 person-years. Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation was initiated in all patients. Three children survived.

Conclusions The incidence of and survival after out-of-hospital SCA in children with CHDs were comparable to the reported rates in the general child population.

  • cardiology
  • congenital heart defect
  • out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest
  • cardiopulmonary resuscitation
  • survival

https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2017-312621

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors JJ contributed to concept and design, acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting and revising of the manuscript, approval of the manuscript and is accountable for all aspects of the work. JK contributed to acquisition and interpretation of data, revising of the manuscript, approval of the manuscript and is accountable for all aspects of the work. GD contributed to acquisition and interpretation of data, revising of the manuscript, approval of the manuscript and is accountable for all aspects of the work. LE contributed to acquisition and interpretation of data, revising of the manuscript, approval of the manuscript and is accountable for all aspects of the work. SB contributed to acquisition and interpretation of data, revising of the manuscript, approval of the manuscript and is accountable for all aspects of the work. HH contributed to concept and design, acquisition and interpretation of data, revising of the manuscript, approval of the manuscript and is accountable for all aspects of the work.

    • Funding This work was supported by the Norwegian Extra Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation, Oslo, Norway, the Norwegian Association for Children with Congenital Heart Disease, Oslo, Norway, the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, and Sørlandet Hospital HF, Arendal, Norway. The funders have no role in the design and conduct of the study, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, and in the preparation, review or approval of the manuscript.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics of South East Norway.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.