Right to left ventricular volume ratio is associated with mortality in congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Background Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is associated with high neonatal mortality. We performed this study to test the hypothesis that left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) volumes assessed by three-dimensional echocardiography may be associated with mortality in CDH. Methods This study was a single-center retrospective cohort study involving 35 infants with CDH. RV and LV end-diastolic volume (RVEDV and LVEDV, respectively) were measured by three-dimensional echocardiography and were corrected by birth body weight (BBW) on day 1. RVEDV/BBW, LVEDV/BBW, and LVEDV/RVEDV were compared between CDH survivors and non-survivors. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to assess the predictive ability for mortality of the echocardiographic parameters. Results Comparing CDH non-survivors ( n = 6) with survivors ( n = 29), respectively, RVEDV/BBW was significantly larger (2.54 ± 0.33 vs 1.86 ± 0.35 ml/kg; P