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Abstract
Del Nido and Custodiol Histidine-Tryptophan-Ketogluterate [HTK] are common solutions employed during pediatric heart surgery. They differ in their mechanism of cardiac arrest; del Nido causes a depolarizing arrest and HTK a hyperpolarizing arrest. While both of these solutions have been evaluated for their impact on patient outcomes independently, limited research exists comparing them directly. This study retrospectively compared patient outcomes between two groups of patients based on which cardioplegia solution was used. Patients were grouped by del Nido [n=30] or Custodiol HTK [n = 30] and stratified by STAT score. T-tests using MiniTab 18 statistical software were performed between del Nido and Custodiol Groups for each parameter at each STAT level. Compared variables included duration of mechanical ventilation, total length of hospital stay, and change in systemic ventricle ejection fraction. No statistical difference was observed between clinical outcomes on the parameters measured between the cardioplegia solutions used at any STAT level. Multiple studies have compared Custodiol and del Nido to conventional cold blood cardioplegia, but few compare them directly. Previous studies have found no significant difference between del Nido and Custodiol when studies compared to cold blood cardioplegia. It stands to reason when compared directly, no significant difference would be found between del Nido and Custodiol. The results of this study are consistent with previous findings. Both solutions are viable choices for myocardial protection in pediatric heart surgery.