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By Suzanne Rostler
NEW YORK, Mar 02 (Reuters Health) - Children born with heart defects are at risk for learning disabilities and neurological problems throughout their lives. But a new study reports that these children are functioning at a higher level than ever before, thanks to surgical and medical improvements.
The analysis of recent research findings shows that while these children still have lower IQ scores compared with their healthy peers, they are in age-appropriate grades in school and are able to engage in normal childhood activities.
"In general, the whole group is a little lower than normal (in terms of) IQ, language, spatial concept testing--things that translate into how they will work and do in higher education," Dr. William T. Mahle, a study author and assistant professor in the division of cardiology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health. "But there is some evidence that the gap is closing."
Mahle and co-author Dr. Gil Wernovsky attribute the trend to more refined surgical procedures and medical technology, which have allowed babies to be diagnosed and treated earlier than in the past.
For example, fetal echocardiogram, a test that allows doctors to diagnose heart problems in the fetus, has led to improvements in the way doctors handle these babies immediately after birth.
These improvements mean that parents can now think about the quality of life of their children rather than their chances of survival, he noted.
"As the chances of not surviving surgery becomes less and less, parents have to think about their kids in the long term," Mahle said.
The review in the March issue of Clinics in Perinatology included studies of children who underwent surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) between 1984 and 1991. HLHS is one of the most common congenital heart defects seen in the first weeks of life. Children with the defect are born with a deformed left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber.
The study findings were also presented at a recent conference sponsored by the hospital and held in Orlando, Florida.
SOURCE: Clinics in Perinatology 2001;28:235-246.
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