Abnormal Brain Development in Newborns with Congenital Heart Disease

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 357; no. 19; pp. 1928 - 1938
• Main Authors: Miller, Steven P, McQuillen, Patrick S, Hamrick, Shannon, Xu, Duan, Glidden, David V, Charlton, Natalie, Karl, Tom, Azakie, Anthony, Ferriero, Donna M, Barkovich, A. James, Vigneron, Daniel B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 08.11.2007
• Subjects: Babies; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain - anatomy & histology; Brain - embryology; Brain - metabolism; Brain - pathology; Brain Diseases - diagnosis; Brain Diseases - etiology; Cardiovascular disease; Case-Control Studies; Congenital diseases; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Female; General aspects; Gestational Age; Heart Defects, Congenital - complications; Heart Ventricles - abnormalities; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Infant, Newborn; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Male; Medical sciences; Prenatal development; Prospective Studies; Transposition of Great Vessels - complications; Medicine; Brain; Newborn diseases; Development; Cardiovascular disease; Congenital cardiopathy; Encephalon
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa067393

Children who survive surgical repair of congenital heart defects often have abnormal neurodevelopment. In this comparison of 41 term newborns with congenital heart disease and 16 controls, abnormalities in brain maturation were present before cardiac surgery. In newborns with congenital heart disease, abnormalities in brain maturation were present before cardiac surgery. In the United States, severe congenital heart disease is a common cause of childhood morbidity, occurring in 6 to 8 infants per 1000 live births. 1 Although most forms of congenital heart disease are now amenable to early surgical repair, deficits that impair widespread neurodevelopmental domains are identified in up to half of childhood survivors: fine motor skills, visuospatial skills, and cognition, including memory, attention, and higher-order language skills. 2 – 5 Despite the importance of these functional impairments at a public health level, the underlying basis of the deficits is largely unknown. Although studies of brain injury in newborns with congenital heart . . .