Abstract: Objective　To explore the role of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in children with congenital heart disease combined with severe pneumonia and cardiac insufficiency. Methods　The clinical data of 130 hospitalized children with congenital heart disease complicated with severe pneumonia and cardiac insufficiency were retrospectively analyzed. According to the treatment measures, the children were divided into CPAP group and the control group. The differences in respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR) and left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) before and after treatment were analyzed. Results　There were 58 cases in CPAP group and 72 cases in control group. There was no difference in sex, age, weight, main clinical symptoms, important signs, imaging manifestations, blood gas index before treatment, RR, HR and treatment measures for cardiac insufficiency between the two groups (all P>0.05). At 2, 6 and 24 hours after treatment, RR and HR of the two groups decreased compared with those before treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The RR and HR of CPAP group were lower than those in the control group at 2, 6 and 24 hours after treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Cardiac function was monitored in 42 children before and after treatment, including 17 in the CPAP group and 25 in the control group. Before treatment, there was no significant difference in EF between the two groups (P>0.05). However, the EF of the CPAP group was higher than that of the control group after treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions　CPAP can improve the clinical symptoms and shorten the length of hospital stay in children with congenital heart disease complicated with severe pneumonia, and may also improve cardiac function.

Key words: 　continuous positive airway pressure;　congenital heart disease;　severe pneumonia;　cardiac insufficiency; infant