Anticoagulation therapy and the risk of perioperative brain injury in neonates with congenital heart disease

Objective: There is considerable variability in anticoagulation use in neonates with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) and single ventricle physiology (SVP) for secondary stroke prevention and primary cardiovascular indications. Leveraging cross-center differences in anticoagulation use, we compared the risk of new postoperative brain injury in neonates with TGA and SVP treated with anticoagulation relative to untreated neonates. Methods: Two-center observational cohort study of 118 term-born neonates with TGA (n = 83) and SVP (n = 35), undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery and pre- and postoperative brain magnetic resonance imaging. Anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy details were obtained. Magnetic resonance images were scored for stroke, white matter injury, and hemorrhage. New postoperative injury was compared between neonates with and without anticoagulation for the 2-center cohort, and subsequently stratified by cardiac lesion type and anticoagulation indication. Results: Thirty-six out of 118 neonates (29%) received anticoagulation: 11 (30%) for preoperative stroke, 20 (56%) for preoperative peripheral/intracardiac thrombus, and 5 (14%) for Blalock-Taussig shunt. Five out of 36 neonates (14%) treated with anticoagulation also received antiplatelet therapy. Although no differences were identified for the 2-center cohort or for neonates with TGA separately, significantly more new postoperative parenchymal brain injury (P = .04), particularly stroke, was found in SVP neonates with compared to without anticoagulation (31% vs 5%). In neonates who experienced preoperative stroke, new subdural hemorrhage (36% vs 0%) was more frequent in neonates treated with anticoagulation therapy compared with those without anticoagulation therapy. Conclusions: In our cohort of neonates with TGA and SVP, anticoagulation for preoperative stroke, preoperative thrombus, and/or Blalock-Taussig shunt did not have the anticipated benefit of preventing new perioperative brain injury. These findings indicate the critical need for rigorous randomized trials on the safety and effectiveness of anticoagulation therapy in this population.