Pediatrics · Cardiology · 3 h ago
Neonatal brain network development associated with outcomes in congenital heart disease
In a prospective cohort of 97 neonates with critical congenital heart disease, researchers examined perioperative brain-network development and later neurodevelopment. Greater increases in network integration were associated with higher cognitive, language and motor scores among children assessed at ages 1–4 years.
- Greater network integration increases were associated with higher developmental scores.
- White matter injury correlated with slower network integration development.
- The findings support further study of a potential biomarker.
Infants with critical congenital heart disease (CHD) are at increased risk of neurodevelopmental impairment. In this prospective longitudinal cohort, 97 neonates underwent preoperative and/or postoperative brain MRI with diffusion imaging. Researchers derived structural-connectome measures for 80 infants; 50 had neurodevelopment assessed at ages 1–4 years using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development.
White matter injury was associated with a slower perioperative increase in global efficiency, a measure of network integration (p=0.013). Cardiac physiology subtype was not associated with network development. Greater increases in global efficiency were associated with higher cognitive (p=0.001), language (p<0.001) and motor scores (p=0.008). Each 1-standard-deviation increase in the global-efficiency trajectory was associated with an 8.2-point higher cognitive score (95% CI, 3.64–12.78), independent of brain injury and socioeconomic factors.
The findings suggest that longitudinal brain-network measures may help identify neurodevelopmental risk or resilience in infants with critical CHD. However, the cohort was observational, and neurodevelopmental outcomes were available for only 50 infants. The study identifies a potential biomarker; it does not establish that using this measure to guide care improves outcomes.
Is this summary clinically accurate?
Help fellow clinicians: your rating sends inaccurate summaries straight to our editors.
Sign in to rate this summary →Source
Pediatric Research: Neonatal brain network integration trajectories predict neurodevelopment in congenital heart disease ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.