Acute renal failure complicating pediatric cardiac surgery: a comparison of survivors and nonsurvivors following acute peritoneal dialysis.

The outlook for patients with cardiac surgery complicated by acute renal failure (ARF) is poor, with a reported mortality of 50-67%. In addition to assessing the impact of recent advances in pediatric cardiac surgery on the mortality rate and renal outcome of surgery complicated by ARF requiring peritoneal dialysis (PD), this study compares preoperative, operative, and postoperative variables in patients who survived surgery and those who did not survive. From 1982 through 1988, 44 postoperative cardiac patients developed ARF, and 40 (age: 2 days to 15 years) required PD. Seventeen of 40 patients survived (mortality 57.5%) and 16 of these patients recovered normal renal function. Preoperative variables, including operative age and weight, did not appear to directly influence survival. Operative profiles, including length of cardiopulmonary bypass, aortic cross-clamp time, and hypotension immediately off bypass, did not distinguish surviving patients from those that did not survive. Postoperative variables, such as postoperative hypotension treatment, arrhythmias, hematologic status, cardiac arrest with resuscitation, did not differentiate survivors from nonsurvivors. The mean duration of PD was less than 2 weeks, and complications were infrequent. Renal status following PD in survivors was usually normal. We conclude that recent advances in pediatric cardiac surgery have not further increased the high mortality of surgery complicated by ARF. Survival is associated with renal recovery and thus aggressive treatment using PD is warranted.