Abstract： Objective To explore the clinical significance of plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) during intraoperative period in children with congenital heart disease (CHD).Methods Ninety-two CHD patients (CHD group) and 92 healthy controls (control group) were enrolled.For CHD patients,the level of plasma NT-proBNP was assayed preoperative and 1st,3rd and 5th day postoperation.The relationship between NT-proBNP and recovery of cardiac function after operation was analyzed.The relationship between complications and days for hospitalization was also determined.Results Before operation,the level of NT-proBNP in CHD group was significantly higher than that in control group (median:231.26 ng/L vs.62.18 ng/L)(P＜0.05).After operation,the level of NT-proBNP in CHD group was significantly increased at 1st day (median:357.26 ng/L) (P＜0.05),3rd day(median:310.66 ng/L)(P＜0.05 ),and decreased at 5th day (median:139.37 ng/L)(P＜0.05 ).The difference of LVEF preoperative and postoperative was significantly lower in high level of NT-proBNP patients(46 cases) than that in low level of NT-proBNP patients (46 cases)[ (4.61 ± 1.69)％ vs.(6.31 ± 1.27)％](P＜0.05).The rate of congestive heart failure and the third atrioventricular block,the days for hospitalization were higher in high level of NT-proBNP patients than those in low level of NT-proBNP patients [ 17.39％ (8/46) vs.2.17％ (1/46),15.22％(7/46) vs.0,(9.36 ± 1.27) d vs.(7.21 ± 1.39) d](P＜0.05).Conclusion Plasma NT-proBNP is a useful marker during intraoperative period in CHD patients.