Safety of pediatric cardiac catheterisation procedures performed in rural India in a catheterisation lab setup for adult work

Introduction: The congenital heart disease (CHD) makes the largest group of congenital defects children are born with. The conservative estimate points towards 1% prevalence of CHD among the newborn. In India, each year approximately 2.4 lakh children are born with CHD, which is largest in the world. There are very centres offering paediatric cardiology services in India and they are unevenly distributed. Because of this, a lot of paediatric patients with CHD get treated at an adult cardiology facility, not always equipped with proper setup to handle complexities associated with paediatric cardiology work. The study aims to assess the safety and complications associated with paediatric cardiology catheterization-based procedures in a Cath lab is primarily used for adult cardiology work.Methods: The current study is a retrospective review of pediatric cardiac cath-lab-based procedures performed between April 2018 and March 2021.Results: During the study, 110 pediatric patients underwent 110 cath-lab-based procedures. A total of 20 procedures were performed as an emergency, and 90 were performed as planned procedures. Out of 110 procedures performed, 86.4% were completed without complications. Minor complications were observed in 9.1% of the procedure. Major complications were seen in 3 patients, and two patients died.Conclusion: The analysis shows that the complications associated with pediatric cardiac procedures performed on rural-based cath-lab oriented toward adult cardiology work are comparable to those of other large-volume pediatric cardiac centres.