Hematological Profile of Congenital Heart Disease Patients undergoing Surgical Correction: A Case–control Observational Study from North India

Objectives: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a cardiac birth anomaly, contributing to ~28% of all birth defects, causing higher fetal and neonatal mortality worldwide. Complete blood count (CBC) is a widely used test for clinical investigation of the patient and is reported to predict the risk of cardiovascular disease and other metabolic disorders. This study reports the correlation between CBC indices and CHD. Material and Methods: n = 238 CHD patients and 50 healthy controls were enrolled. CBC was done with pre-operative blood. Student’s t- test, Chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression were performed for statistical analysis. Results: ~79% (11 out of 14) parameters showed significant deviation from the controls. Lymphocytosis and low platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio were prominently demonstrated in all cases ( P = 0.000), along with erythrocytosis in the cyanotic group. Interestingly, cyanotic patients, wherein anemia is more common, had significantly higher hemoglobin (HGB) ( P = 0.000). Multivariate regression showed a strong correlation of hematocrit (HCT) with HGB (r = 0.92) and oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) (r = −0.76), red blood cell with HCT (r = 0.88), HGB (r = 0.83), and SpO 2 (r = −0.78). Higher pulse, platelet counts and lymphocytes, low body mass index, mean corpuscular volume, HGB, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin may result in early diagnosis ( P < 0.05) while decreased mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration level can reduce ventilation time ( P = 0.0004). Conclusion: Our study highlighted the relationship between CBC and CHD and their impact on the hospitalization status of patients from the North Indian cohort.