ABSTRACT
Growth impairment in infants and children with congenital heart disease (CHD) is well documented. The greatest severity of growth retardation is usually found in infants with congestive heart failure (CHF) associated with ventricular septal defect (1), patent ductus arteriosus (2), transposition of the great arteries, or coarctation of the aorta (3). Although the etiology for this growth impairment remains unknown, CHD and=or CHF can affect growth by causing insufficient caloric intake due to an actual decrease in the number of calories consumed or to malabsorption of the ingested calories (4,5), or by causing an increase in energy expenditure of patients with the disease (6-10). Chronic hypoxia has also
been implicated as a cause of growth impairment in infants with cyanotic CHD (11-13). Whatever the cause of growth impairment in these infants, it is clear that adequate nutrition is crucial to allow for proper growth and neurodevelopment and to decrease surgical risk (14).
