Abstract
BACKGROUND: Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is one of the congenital cardiac abnormality which occurs during embryonic time. Although surgical correction, especially early operation, is the best way to treat patients, still contributing factors in morbidity and mortality is controversial. The objective of this study is to investigate potential factors which might be correlated with post-operative outcomes of TOF. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 349 monitored patients with TOF correction were selected. Median of age was 4 (0.66-8) year, 58% of patients were male and 42% were female. Time of inotropic drug, extubation time, and ICU stay were considered as post-operative outcomes which extension of each of them increased the risk of death. RESULTS: Ventricular septal defect enlargement was associated with longer extubation time and ICU stay. Higher ratio of pre-operative haematocrit was correlated with mortality (0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study demonstrated that haematocrit ratio before operation should be considered as a predictive factor, and patients with higher ratio of haematocrit require more care after operation. VSD enlargement is associated with longer extubation time and ICU stay.