Does congenital heart disease affect brain development?

The relation of cerebral oxygen delivery to brain dysmaturation and damage in infants with congenital heart disease

Supervised by Professor Serena Counsell, this Clinical Research Training Fellow is studying congenital heart disease, where heart problems develop before birth. Thanks to advances in diagnostics and heart surgery, many made possible by BHF-funded research, more infants with congenital heart conditions survive. But it’s becoming apparent that some children with congenital heart disease do worse at school, and up to half of children experience problems with movement, coordination, memory, hyperactivity, attention, and speech and language skills, suggesting they may have impaired brain development. In this project, the researchers will compare 60 babies with congenital heart disease with 60 healthy babies at three points: in the womb, after birth, and after heart surgery. Using state-of-the-art MRI scans they will examine the baby’s brain in unprecedented detail, looking at blood flow, oxygen levels and brain structure. They want to find out how differences in blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain before and after birth affect the development of nerve fibres in the brain. They will also establish if altered brain development in the womb makes some babies with congenital heart disease more vulnerable to brain damage during heart surgery, leading to disability in later life. This research will reveal how congenital heart disease affects the brain in the long term and will develop new ways to measure brain development.