Quality of life in children following mitral valve replacement

Citation
C. Van Doorn et al., Quality of life in children following mitral valve replacement, HEART, 84(6), 2000, pp. 643-647
Citations number
13
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Cardiovascular & Respiratory Systems","Cardiovascular & Hematology Research
Journal title
HEART
ISSN journal
1355-6037 → ACNP
Volume
84
Issue
6
Year of publication
2000
Pages
643 - 647
Database
ISI
SICI code
1355-6037(200012)84:6<643:QOLICF>2.0.ZU;2-3
Abstract
Objective-To measure the health related quality of life (QoL) following mit ral valve replacement in childhood. Design-Cross sectional study. Setting-Tertiary referral centre. Methods-19 patients, median age (range) 14.4 (9.7-25.4) years, were studied at a median of 7.6 (0.5-11.2) years after their most recent mitral valve r eplacement. General health status was measured using age specific validated questionnaires. Ten children aged between 9-15 years completed the child h ealth related quality of life questionnaire, and for nine older patients th e UI( version of the short form 36 was used. Specific questions were added to the existing questionnaires to study the effect of long term anticoagula tion treatment. Results-All patients in the younger age group reported impaired QoL. Five r ated their QoL within the range of children with chronic physical disabilit ies, and in the remaining five it was worse. In the older age group, all bu t two patients perceived their QoL as normal or near normal compared with a reference population matched for sex and age. Having regular blood tests h ad a negative effect on QoL in three young children, and one older patient reported impaired QoL related to taking daily warfarin tablets. Conclusions-In this small group, the effect of mitral valve replacement on QoL appears to be age specific, with more impairment in younger children. L ong term anticoagulation treatment is well tolerated in most patients.