Brains Of Full Term Infants With Congenital Heart Defects Resemble Those Of Premature Babies
The brains of full-term infants with congenital heart disease appear more similar to those of premature newborns than to the brains of normal term infants, a study conducted by researchers at UCSF has found. The study suggests that the mental and physical impairments in children with congenital heart disease may also have their origins in utero in addition to injuries resulting from surgery.
Up till now we have not fully understood the widespread deficits in cognition, including memory, attention, and higher-order language skills, as well as deficits in fine motor skills of these children. The suggestion is now that the deficits themselves can be attributed to abnormal fetal circulation and lower levels of oxygen-saturated blood reaching the brain in while in the womb… which makes a heck of a lot of sense.
This gives momentum to the suggestion of many cardiologists that heart surgery should be done at an even earlier stage in a child’s life, like in utero. Would you consider having heart surgery on your child while she was still in the womb? That opens a whole new box of worms, doesn’t it? None the less, this is exciting being that we have so much still to learn about these congenital abnormalities so there is still so much room for treatments and improvements!
via Science Daily/Univ. Ca. San Francisco
Tags: brains, cardiologists, congenital_abnormalities, congenital_heart_disease, fetal_circulation, fine_motor_skills, heart_surgery, physical_impairments, premature_newborns, term_infants, ucsf, utero, wombRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Hearty Info, Hearty News, Hearty Research, People With Heart Disease
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