Central Venous Saturation (ScvO2) Monitoring in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Children (ages 0-12) that have heart surgery are often at a high risk of developing
complications and have to be continuously monitored. Part of the routine care at UCLA
includes using a monitor (continuous central venous oxygen saturation-ScvO2) to measure the
amount of oxygen saturation in the tissues (indirectly) during surgery and in the intensive
care unit. However, there is not much data on the use and effectiveness of this monitor in
comparison to other monitors used for children.

The purpose of this study is to further evaluate the effectiveness of the continuous central
venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) monitor in children and compare it with other monitors
during a heart surgery. This is an observational study and the patients will not undergo any
research specific procedures in the operating room (OR). The investigators will observe and
record de-identified information, such as vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, etc.), to
evaluate the importance of the monitor. This study will also look at the demographics (age,
gender, diagnosis, etc.) and treatments (type of surgery) received children undergoing heart
surgery to improve quality of care. The investigators will also observe the same parameters
in the ICU. The investigators hypothesized that low central venous saturations are associated
with worse clinical outcomes.