Abstract
The health outcomes of children born to women with heart valve prostheses in New South Wales, Australia, 2000–2011, were examined in a record-linkage population-based study. Eighty-one women delivered 112 infants. One infant was stillborn, two died prior to discharge from hospital. Twenty seven (24.8%) were readmitted to hospital in their first year of life. The average number of readmissions up to age 6 years was 2.7 (95% CI 1.51–3.89) versus population rate of 2.04 (95% CI 2.03–2.05). The children demonstrated an increased risk of adverse event in the first year of life. Reassuringly however, and not previously reported, mortality and health outcomes in the first 6 years of life were not significantly different to the general population.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.
This work was supported by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (APP1001066) and Australian Heart Foundation grants. C.L.R. is supported by a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (APP1021025) and G.A.F. is co-funded by a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (APP1062262) and a Heart Foundation (Australia) Future Leader Fellowship. The funding agencies listed had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the article.