In-hospital Outcomes of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Admissions for Acute Infective Endocarditis in Congenital Heart Disease

Infective endocarditis (IE) is uncommon in children with congenital heart disease (CHD), and limited data exist regarding in-hospital outcomes of those requiring cardiac surgery. We retrospectively reviewed hospitalizations from the pediatric health information system from January 2016 to November 2024. Among 357,031 unique pediatric patients with CHD (≤ 21 years), 2108 patients (0.5%) were hospitalized for IE. The index hospitalizations during which cardiac surgery was performed were included. We aimed to characterize in-hospital outcomes among CHD children undergoing cardiac surgery for IE, with sub-analysis of those who required surgery versus medical therapy. The incidence of IE in CHD was 5.6 cases per 1000. Microorganism coding was unavailable in 41.3%; Staphylococcus (24.1%) and Streptococcus (22.3%) were the most common. Stroke occurred in 10.7%. Prosthetic valve endocarditis was present in 9.4%. Overall, 30% of patients required cardiac surgery, most commonly pulmonary valve or conduit procedures (36.6%) and tricuspid valve surgery (16.7%). Two-valve surgery was performed in 13.3%. In-hospital mortality was comparable between surgical and medical patients (10.1% vs 9.6%, p = 0.7). Permanent pacemaker implantation was more common after surgery (6.6% vs 2.2%, p < 0.01). Length of hospital stay and hospitalization costs were higher in the surgical group. On multivariable analysis, older age, heart failure, stroke, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) were associated with in-hospital mortality. IE in children with CHD remains associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. In-hospital mortality remains high despite cardiac surgery. Older age, heart failure, stroke, and ECMO requirement are independent factors of in-hospital mortality.