The authors aimed to assess whether untreated preoperative anemia was associated with increased risk for adverse outcomes after the arterial switch operation in neonates with dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA).

Retrospective cohort study.

Single cardiac surgery center.

Eighty-two newborns with d-TGA.

The authors categorized the cohort into the following two groups: the infants with preoperative anemia group (defined as a hematocrit <0.40 L/L) and the control group.

Preoperative anemia was diagnosed in 21 (25.6%) infants. Anemic infants received intraoperative red blood cell transfusions significantly more often than controls (81.0% v 34.4%, p < 0.001). No differences were observed in the incidence of adverse events, duration of hospitalization (median 27 days v 26 days, p = 0.881), and mortality (0% v 4.9%, p = 0.566). Postnatal hematocrit was the only variable independently associated with preoperative anemia in multivariate logistic regression analysis (unit odds ratio, 0.832; 95% confidence interval, 0.743-0.931; p = 0.001).

Untreated preoperative anemia was not associated with adverse outcomes in neonates undergoing reparative surgery for d-TGA.