Serial neurosonography in fetuses with congenital heart defects shows mild delays in cortical development.
Prenat Diagn
; 41(13): 1649-1657, 2021 Dec.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34474501
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Neurodevelopmental delay is more common in children born with congenital heart defects (CHD), even with optimal perinatal and peri-operative care. It is hypothesized that fetuses with CHD are prone to neurological impairment in utero due to their cardiac defect, possibly leading to delayed cortical development.METHODS:
Cerebral cortical maturation was assessed with advanced neurosonographic examinations every 4 weeks in fetuses with CHD and compared to control fetuses. Five different primary fissures and four areas were scored (ranging 0-5) by blinded examiners using a cortical maturation scheme.RESULTS:
Cortical staging was assessed in 574 ultrasound examinations in 85 CHD fetuses and 61 controls. Small differences in grading were seen in Sylvian and cingulate fissures. (Sylvian fissure -0.12 grade, 95% CI (-0.23; -0.01) p = 0.05, cingulate fissure -0.24 grade, 95% CI (-0.38; -0.10) p = <0.001. Other cortical areas showed normal maturation as compared to control fetuses.CONCLUSION:
Small differences were seen in three of the nine analyzed cortical areas in CHD fetuses, in contrast to previous reports on progressive third-trimester delay. The clinical implications of the small differences however, remain unknown.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
/
Malformations of Cortical Development
/
Heart Defects, Congenital
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Pregnancy
Language:
En
Journal:
Prenat Diagn
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Netherlands