[Nutritional recovery in infants with congenital heart disease and severe malnutrition using a hypercaloric diet].

Protein-energy malnutrition is commonly observed in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD). The effect of a hypercaloric formula on nutritional recovery was evaluated in malnourished infants with congenital heart diseases. We retrospectively studied 30 infants (mean age 9 months, range 2 to 21) with CHD along 60 to 90 days in a closed nutritional recovery center. All patients were fed a hypercaloric whole cow's milk formula with sucrose, butter oil and corn starch (1.29 kcal.ml). Mean daily energy intake was 220 +/- 19.8 kcal.kg body weight.day. Mean weight gain was 2.7 g.kg.day. No effect of cyanosis, cardiac failure, degree of malnutrition or number of illness-free days was observed on nutritional recovery. Patients older than 9 months had significantly greater weight gain than younger infants. Those infants with worse CHD and severe intercurrent illnesses had the worst nutritional recovery. We suggest that a hypercaloric formula induces good nutritional weight gain infants with severe congenital heart disease.