Safety of stimulant medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in paediatric congenital heart disease.

AIM: To review current literature regarding the safety of stimulant medications for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in paediatric congenital heart disease (CHD) patients.

METHODS

Embase, MEDLINE complete, CINAHL complete and Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection were searched for relevant articles from January 1980 to July 2022.

RESULTS

One hundred and three articles were identified during the initial search after removal of duplicates. Thirty-five articles were selected for review and 11 were included as relevant to the clinical question.

CONCLUSIONS

Stimulant medications are safe in patients with underlying CHD. In mild congenital cardiac conditions (ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect and isolated semilunar valve disease), paediatricians can safely initiate stimulant therapy. With complex CHD cases, cardiology opinion is recommended prior to starting stimulants.