To determine the health-related quality of life at 4 years of age in children who had undergone cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease in early infancy.
A prospective cohort study of infants undergoing cardiac surgery at 6 weeks of age or younger from July 2000 to June 2005 at the Stollery Children's Hospital. The quality of life was assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, version 4.0, generic core scales, and compared with normative values for the same age. The association between the perioperative variables and health-related quality of life was explored.
A total of 242 infants underwent complex heart surgery during the study period. Of the 166 eligible survivors, 130 were included. No significant differences were present between the children with single ventricle versus biventricular repairs, except for lower physical health summary scores in the single ventricle patients (P = .007). Compared with the normative data, the children with biventricular repair had lower total Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, version 4.0, scores (P = .001) and psychosocial health summary scores (P