Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate growth and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) levels in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) pre- and postoperatively over a period of a year. Anthropometric values and serum levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 of 40 infants with CHD (20 cyanotic and 20 acyanotic) were compared with 32 healthy controls. Acyanotic infants and infants with pulmonary hypertension (PH) presented significantly more growth failure. Preoperatively, serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were lower in the acyanotic group than the cyanotic and the control groups (p=0.22; p<0.01). The upward trend in IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels in this year-long study demonstrated that the values in the third month and the first year were higher than the preoperative values (p<0.05). The parallel increase of weight gain and IGF-1, IGFBP-3 levels were the best evidence that these parameters are good nutritional indicators. Timing the corrective surgery before chronic malnutrition or PH develops is an important issue to maintain a normal growth for children with CHD.