prevalence and short term outcome of post-procedural complete heart block in congenital heart disease correction in children

Background: complete heart block (chb) is a known complication following congenital heart disease (chd) corrections in children, yet data on its prevalence and short-term outcomes is limited. this study investigates the prevalence and short-term outcomes of post-procedural chb in pediatric patients undergoing surgical or transcatheter procedures for chd.method: a retrospective cohort study was conducted on pediatric patients who underwent chd corrections between 2019 and 2020 at a tertiary cardiac center in isfahan, iran. patients with a history of arrhythmia or heart block before surgery were excluded. the medical records were reviewed to identify cases of post-procedural chb. the prevalence, risk factors and short-term outcome of post-procedural chb were analyzed.result: a total of 840 patients were included in the study, with a mean age of 3.41±4.30 years and 47.8% being male. chb was identified in 22 patients (2.6%) during the post-procedural period, with a prevalence of 0.6% in the transcatheter group and 4.7% in the surgical group. patients with post-procedural chb were younger than non-chb patients. regression analyses indicated that the type of procedure and type of chd were associated with post-procedural chb. patients who developed post-procedural chb had a longer mean stay in the pediatric cardiac critical care unit than non-chb patients. the in-hospital mortality rate was 5.2%, with no correlation to chb occurrence.conclusion: the findings highlight the importance of attentive monitoring for post-procedural chb, particularly in younger patients, to facilitate timely intervention and improve the patient’s outcome.