Objectives: In children with congenital heart disease (CHD), excessive perioperative bleeding is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, thus making adequate perioperative hemostasis crucial. We investigate the prevalence of acquired von Willebrand syndrome type 2A (aVWS) in CHD and develop a treatment algorithm for patients with aVWS and CHD (TAPAC) to reduce perioperative blood loss.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Single-center study.
Patients: A total of 627 patients with CHD, undergoing corrective cardiac surgery between January 2008 and May 2017.
Interventions: The evaluation of perioperative bleeding risk was based on the laboratory parameters von Willebrand factor (VWF) antigen, ristocetin cofactor activity, platelet function analyzer (PFA) closure time adenosine diphosphate, and PFA epinephrine. According to the bleeding risk, treatment was performed with desmopressin or VWF.
Measurements and main results: aVWS was confirmed in 63.3 %, with a prevalence of 45.5% in the moderate and 66.3 % in the high-risk group. In addition, prevalence increased with ascending peak velocity above the stenosis (v max ) from 40.0% at less than or equal to 3 m/s to 83.3% at greater than 5 m/s. TAPAC reduced mean blood loss by 36.3% in comparison with a historical control cohort ( p < 0.001), without increasing the number of thrombotic or thromboembolic events during the hospital stay. With ascending v max , there was an increase in perioperative blood loss in the historical cohort ( p < 0.001), which was not evident in the TAPAC cohort ( p = 0.230).
Conclusions: The prevalence of aVWS in CHD seems to be higher than assumed and leads to significantly higher perioperative blood loss, especially at high v max . Identifying these patients through appropriate laboratory analytics and adequate treatment could reduce blood loss effectively.
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