Research Information System
Journal of Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine (Turkey), vol.13, no.1, pp.18-22, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)
Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the surgical risks in patients with Down syndrome (DS) and cardiac pathology. We aim to share our single-center experience and identify risk factors among patients with DS undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients under the age of 18 who underwent cardiac surgery at Hacettepe University between 1996 and 2019 were included. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all pediatric patients with DS who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD). Results: A total of 175 patients were included in the study. Seventy-five patients (42.8%) were male and the median age of the patients was 7 months (1-86 months). The most common cardiac pathology was atrial septal defect (19.2%), followed by atrioventricular septal defect (18.7%) and ventricular septal defect (11.3%). According to the risk adjustment for congenital heart surgery classification, most patients were in category 2 (41.7%) and category 3 (42.3%). Sixty-one patients (34.9%) were diagnosed with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in the postoperative period. Seven patients (3.4%) needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Overall mortality was 30.3%. Conclusion: This single-center study characterized the pattern of CHD in a specific cohort of patients with DS and identified risk factors associated with cardiac surgery. Postoperative SIRS and high-risk surgical procedures were associated with an increased risk of mortality.