Objective: We examined the reliability of the main prenatal and postnatal prognosis-related indexes that can be used to evaluate congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) outcome.
Methods: Seventy-seven neonates with CDH were analyzed according to CDH prognosis-related factors, divided into prenatal findings, postnatal clinical values and postnatal predictive outcome scores applied at birth and within the first 12-24 h. The data are compared between two groups: survivors and non-survivors.
Results: During prenatal age, major associated anomalies, intrathoracic stomach, diagnosis prior to 25 weeks of gestational age and lung-to-head ratio < 0.6 were statistically significant, demonstrating their greater incidence in non-survivors. The majority of postnatal values at PICU admission were found to be reliable in identifying the CDH outcome: paO2/FiO2, oxygenation index, alveolar-arterial-O2 gradient, arterial-alveolar-O2 tension ratio, pH, mean blood pressure, body temperature. All the postnatal predictive outcome scores (Apgar 1' and 5', CDH-Study-Group equation, Score for Neonatal-Acute-Physiology II, SNAP-Perinatal-Extension II, Pediatric Risk of Mortality III and Wilford-Hall/Santa-Rosa formula) were statistically significant with more favorable values for prognosis in the survivors group.
Conclusion: The chances of predicting CDH outcome are fairly high. During prenatal age, only a few findings may be obtained. Conversely, many postnatal indexes and scores can reliably predict such outcome.
Keywords: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia; neonate; outcome predictive indexes; postnatal scores; prenatal findings; survival.