Trajectories of neurodevelopment and opportunities for intervention across the lifespan in congenital heart disease

ABSTRACT

Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental challenges across the lifespan. These are associated with neurological changes and potential acquired brain injury, which occur across a developmental trajectory and which are influenced by an array of medical, sociodemographic, environmental, and personal factors. These alterations to brain development lead to an array of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, which impact a characteristic set of skills over the course of development. The current paper reviews existing knowledge of aberrant brain development and brain injury alongside associated neurodevelopmental challenges across the lifespan. These provide a framework for discussion of emerging and potential interventions to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes at each developmental stage.

KEYWORDS:

• Congenital heart disease
• neurodevelopmental outcomes
• neurodevelopmental interventions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The National Institutes of Health grant R01HL139712 (N.I.), the National Institutes of Health grant R01HL146670 (N.I.), the National Institutes of Health grant R21NS127051 (N.I.), the National Institutes of Health grant R33HL146394 (N.I.), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program under Award No. W81XWH2010199 (N.I.).