Peritoneal dialysis in infants and children after open heart surgery.

Over a period of 5 years, 1975-1979, 418 infants and children were operated on for congenital cardiac malformations using cardiopulmonary bypass. Fifteen patients (4 with transposition, 4 with Fallot's tetralogy, 1 with pulmonary atresia and 6 with complex composite malformations) developed acute renal failure with anuria, which did not respond to volume load, afterload reduction, low dose dopamine, diuretics and controlled ventilation. Continuous peritoneal dialysis was started within a few hours of anuria. During dialysis the patients remained sedated, intubated and on controlled normocapnic ventilation. No complications occurred caused by the dialysis per se. Ten patients recovered and had normal serum creatinine when discharged from hospital (mean duration of dialysis: 6 days). Complex cardiac malformations were overrepresented in the 5 patients who died early in the postoperative period due to myocardial failure (mean duration of dialysis: 3 days).