The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2012 , Vol 54 , Num 5
Complications of Cardiac Catheterization in Pediatric Patients: a Single Center Experience
Departments of 1Pediatric Cardiology, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakır, and 2Pediatrics and 3Pediatric
Cardiology, İzmir Dr. Behçet Uz Children’s Hospital, İzmir, Turkey. E-mail: vedidetavli@hotmail.com
We analyzed 519 catheterization procedures performed over a period of
two years retrospectively. Several risk factors related to the patient or
catheterization were analyzed. The incidence of complications was 6.2%. The
most common major and minor complications were arterial thrombosis that
required intervention and transient arrhythmias, respectively. The incidence
of complications during interventional studies was higher (9.7%) when
compared to that in diagnostic procedures (5.4%). The independent risk
of any complication was greatest up to 1 year of age (p=0.02). The risks
of a major complication (p=0.003) and development of arterial thrombosis
(p=0.02) were significantly greater in patients <1 year of age by univariate
analysis. The risks of pediatric cardiac catheterization continue to decline.
The complication rates associated with interventional catheterization were
significantly higher than with diagnostic catheterization in this study. Younger
age, particularly <1 year of age, is the strongest predictor of development
of any complication.
Keywords :
pediatric, complications, catheterization, diagnostic, interventional.