OBJECTIVES: Pediatric patients who undergo percutaneous vascular procedures are not well-characterized in terms of their number, demographic and clinical characteristics, clinical diagnoses, and specific procedures received. This retrospective population-based cohort study aimed to quantify and describe pediatric patients (<18 years) undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic percutaneous vascular procedures in England [cohort 1], including neonates and infants (<1 year) undergoing patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) stent and systemic-to-pulmonary shunt (SPS) procedures [sub-cohort 1].

METHODS: Patients in both cohorts were identified from the English Hospital Episode Statistics database between April 2016 and February 2022. For each, demographic and clinical characteristics, procedures received, and diagnoses recorded were summarized.

RESULTS: Cohort 1: 58,732 pediatric patients were identified, among whom the median age at first percutaneous vascular procedure recorded during the study period was 3 years (Q1-Q3=0-12), the median number of procedures per patient was 1 (Q1-Q3=1-2), the median hospital stay duration was 4 days (Q1-Q3=1-14), and 3.7% died during the study period. 88,987 procedures were recorded; the most common were venous central catheter insertion (38.0%) and venous (7.5%) or arterial (5.8%) pressure monitoring. 18.2% of patients were diagnosed with cyanotic or severe congenital heart disease (CHD) and 14.8% with another heart-related condition. Sub-cohort 1: 1,354 neonates and infants were identified, among whom 98.4% were diagnosed with cyanotic or severe CHD, the median number of procedures per patient was 3 (Q1-Q3=2-4), the median hospital stay duration was 8 days (Q1-Q3=1-20), and 13.3% died during the study period. 4,133 procedures were recorded; the most common were vena cava-pulmonary anastomosis (16.5%), PDA stenting (6.9%), and venous central catheter insertion (6.5%).

CONCLUSIONS: Many pediatric patients in England undergo diagnostic and/or therapeutic percutaneous vascular procedures. Neonates and infants receiving PDA stents or SPSs for severe CHD are a small subpopulation that require more invasive interventions and suffer increased mortality.