Hospital utilization in adults with single ventricle congenital heart disease and cardiac arrhythmias.

OBJECTIVES

The study sought to identify the impact of cardiac arrhythmias on hospitalizations in adults with single ventricle (SV) congenital heart disease (CHD).

BACKGROUND

Surgical advances have dramatically improved survival in patients with CHD. Cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death are common in adults with CHD.

METHODS AND

RESULTS

Data from 43 pediatric hospitals in the 2004 to 2011 Pediatric Health Information System database were used to identify patients ≥18 years of age admitted with International Classification of Diseases-9th Revision codes for a diagnosis of either hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), tricuspid atresia (TA) or common ventricle (CV), and a cardiac arrhythmia. Primary and secondary diagnoses, length of stay (LOS), hospital charges, and interventional procedures were determined. Multilevel models were used to evaluate differences in demographics, diagnoses, and clinical outcomes among the 3 subgroups (HLHS, TA, and CV). Interactions of charges with arrhythmia and admission year were examined using ANOVA. There were 642 admissions in 424 patients with SV CHD and an arrhythmia diagnosis. A single arrhythmia diagnosis was present in 454 admissions (71%). Total hospital charges were $80.7 million with mean charge per admission of $127,296 ± 243,094. The mean charge per hospital day was $16,653 ± 17,516 and increased across the study period (P < 0.01). Arrhythmia distributions were impacted by SV anatomic subtype (P < 0.001). Hospital resource utilization was significantly different among arrhythmia groups (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

In adults with SV CHD, arrhythmias are affected by SV anatomic subtype and impact adversely upon hospital resource utilization.