Abstract

The Vasoactive-Inotropic Score at 48 hours is a good surrogate marker for adverse postoperative events in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and is limited by its ability to delineate the underlying cause for an unfavourable clinical course. Thus, other predictors such as the Technical Performance Score are likely to highlight the underlying cause and can be used to improve outcomes. However, patients with a high postoperative VIS score at 48 hours may benefit from closer longer-term follow for outcomes such as late survival, functional class, and need for reoperation.