Background: Children with congenital heart defects (CHD) requiring open-heart surgery are a group at high risk for health-related sequelae. Little consensus exists regarding their long-term psychological adjustment (PA) and health-related quality of life (QoL). Thus, we conducted a systematic review to determine the current knowledge on long-term outcome in this population.

Parents of children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery are at increased risk for intermediate and long-term psychological malfunctioning. Acute symptoms of PTSD in parents shortly after discharge of their child are a major risk factor for the development of chronic PTSD. Clinicians need to identify parents at risk at an early stage to provide them with systematic support.

These data suggest a relative independence in the regulation of the HPA axis and the autonomic nervous system in response to everyday stressors but synchrony of both systems in highly stressful situations.