Neurology of Congenital Heart Disease: insight from brain imaging
Abstract
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common cause of childhood morbidity, occurring in 6-8 per 1000 live births, with up to 50% of these children requiring open-heart surgery to correct their defect. Although most forms of CHD can now be definitively repaired with neonatal surgery resulting in good cardiac function, neurological deficits are common, particularly in infants. Given the burden of neurodevelopmental impairment following neonatal cardiac surgery, this review will address: the timing of brain injury in newborns with CHD, how the pattern of brain abnormalities on imaging studies, such as stroke or white matter injury, informs etiology, and (3) the surprising predominance of white matter injury in term newborns with CHD.
