Patients With Congenital Heart Disease Undergoing Noncardiac Procedures at Hospitals With and Without a Cardiac Surgical Program

BACKGROUND: The type and location of hospitals where patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergo noncardiac procedures have not been investigated. This study aimed to describe (1) the characteristics of these patients, (2) the distribution of procedures among hospitals with and without a cardiac surgical program and travel distances, (3) the characteristics determining the distribution, and (4) mortality rates. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a retrospective cohort analysis of inpatient data from the Center for Healthcare Information and Analysis of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Texas Healthcare Information Collection, and Health Care Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database. Children <18 years old with CHD who underwent noncardiac procedures were included. Distances were calculated using the Haversine formula. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate the odds of a procedure at a hospital with a cardiac program. There were 7435 encounters at 235 hospitals analyzed. Most procedures (87.8%) occurred at hospitals with a cardiac program. Patients at a hospital without a cardiac program had simple CHD (72.4%) with <1% with single ventricle disease. At hospitals with a cardiac program, 56.8% had simple CHD, 35.4% complex CHD, and 7.8% single ventricle disease. The median distance traveled was 25.2 miles (interquartile range, 10.3–73.8 miles) to a hospital with a cardiac program and 14.6 miles (interquartile range, 6.2–37.4 miles) to a hospital without a cardiac program (P<0.001). Single ventricle disease (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 16.25 [95% CI, 7.22–36.61]) and ≥6 chronic conditions (aOR, 1.81 [95% CI, 1.57–2.09]) were associated with performance at a hospital with a cardiac program. Mortality rate was 3.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CHD are more likely to travel to a hospital with a cardiac program for noncardiac procedures than to a hospital without; especially patients with single ventricle disease, other complex CHD, and with ≥6 chronic conditions.