Severe Fontan‐Associated Liver Disease and Its Association With Mortality

Abstract

Background Data are rare about the incidence of severe Fontan‐associated liver disease (FALD) and its association with mortality. We sought to: (1) estimate the probability of developing severe FALD in patients who undergo the Fontan procedure (Fontan patients), compared with severe liver complications in patients with a ventricular septal defect; (2) assess the severe FALD‐mortality association; and (3) identify risk factors for developing severe FALD. Methods and Results Using the Quebec Congenital Heart Disease database, a total of 512 Fontan patients and 10 232 patients with a ventricular septal defect were identified. Kaplan‐Meier curves demonstrated significantly higher cumulative risk of severe FALD in Fontan patients (11.95% and 52.24% at 10 and 35 years, respectively), than the risk of severe liver complications in patients with a ventricular septal defect (0.50% and 2.75%, respectively). At 5 years, the cumulative risk of death was 12.60% in patients with severe FALD versus 3.70% in Fontan patients without FALD (log‐rank P=0.0171). Cox proportional hazard models identified significant associations between the development of severe FALD and congestive heart failure and supraventricular tachycardia, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 2.36 (95% CI, 1.38–4.02) and 2.45 (95% CI, 1.37–4.39), respectively. More recent Fontan completion was related to reduced risks of severe FALD, with an HR of 0.95 (95% CI, 0.93–0.97) for each more recent year. Conclusions This large‐scale population‐based study documents that severe FALD in Fontan patients was associated with a >3‐fold increase in mortality. The risk of FALD is time‐dependent and can reach >50% by 35 years after the Fontan operation. Conditions promoting poor Fontan hemodynamics were associated with severe FALD development.

Keywords

• congenital heart defects
• Fontan procedure
• liver diseases
• mortality
• risk factor