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Ventricular and total brain volumes in infants with congenital heart disease: a longitudinal study

Journal of Perinatology volume 40, pages 1383–1388 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

Quantitative MRI techniques help recognize delayed brain development in fetuses with congenital heart disease (CHD). Ventriculomegaly became an early marker of brain dysmaturity.

Objective:

Evaluate longitudinally the cerebral ventricular and total brain volumes (TBV) in infants with CHD compared to normal neonates: testing the fetal brain dysmaturity and following its progression post operatively.

Study design:

Fetal and post-operative MRIs were obtained on fetuses/neonates with CHD requiring invasive intervention within the first month after birth. Volumetric measurement was done with ITK-SNAP and analyzed post-hoc.

Results:

Ten cases were evaluated with a significant decrease in ventricular volumes from the fetal to the post-operative neonatal timepoint (p = 0.0297). Infants with HLHS had a significant increase postoperatively in their TBV (p = 0.0396).

Conclusions:

TBV increased post operatively inversely mirrored by the decrement of the ventricular volumes. This could be explained by the establishment an increase of brain blood flow after surgery.

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Fig. 1: A three dimmensional reconstruction of the ventricular system of an infant with hypoplastic left heart syndrom via ITKSnap.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the dedicated teams of the USC Fetal Maternal Care Center, CHLA Radiology, and the intensive care units who take care of these sick infants and their families.

Funding

This paper is supported by the Children’s Heart Foundation, Southern California Clinical, and Translational Science Institute, the Pittsburgh Children’s Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Gerber Foundation, and CHLA Clinical Services; and also supported by The Children’s Heart Foundation and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Clinical Trials Unit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USC Division of Neonatal Medicine of the LAC+USC Medical Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Cynthia Hayek, J. Meouchy, D. Miller & L. Paquette

  2. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Cynthia Hayek, V. Rajagopalan, J. Votava-Smith, D. Miller, S. del Castillo, A. Panigrahy & L. Paquette

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  1. Cynthia Hayek
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Correspondence to Cynthia Hayek.

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Hayek, C., Rajagopalan, V., Meouchy, J. et al. Ventricular and total brain volumes in infants with congenital heart disease: a longitudinal study. J Perinatol 40, 1383–1388 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0711-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0711-4

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