Abstract #4101

Altered Interhemispheric Brain Connectivity in Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease Following Cardiopulmonary Bypass Surgery.

Malek I. Makki¹, Rabia Liamlahi², Walter Knirsch², Bea Latal³, Ianina Scheer¹, Achim Schmitz⁴, Hintendu Dave⁵, Vera Bernet⁶, Christian Kellenberger¹

¹Diagnostic Imaging, University Children Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland; ²Cardiology, University Children Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland; ³Child Development, University Children Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland; ⁴Anesthesia, University Children Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland; ⁵Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery, University Children Hospital, Zurich; ⁶Pediatric Intensive Care, University Children Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland

We investigated the white matter micro-structural changes of both the splenium and genu of the corpus callosum in neonates born at term with congenital heart disease. DT-MRI was carried out on patients in natural sleep before and after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Pre vs post surgery analysis did not reveal any significant difference of the DTI metrics of the genu. However, we observed significant post-surgery changes on the splenium with lower perpendicular diffusion (p = 0.005), higher mean diffusion (p = 0.010) and lower anisotropy (p = 0.027). This is suggestive of delayed maturation of the splenium in these patients.