Abstract #4218

Thalamic Microstructural Changes in Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease: A DT-MRI Study Before & After Cardiopulmonary Bypass Surgery.

Malek I. Makki¹, Rabia Liamlahi², Bea Latal³, Walter Knirsch², Hintendu Dave⁴, Achim Schmitz⁵, Vera Bernet⁶, Christian Kellenberger¹, Ianina Scheer¹

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

Using DT-MRI we investigated the micro-structural changes of the thalamus in neonates with congenital heart disease before and after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Our results demonstrated that: i) in the pre-surgery group there was a statistically significant side effect with parallel diffusion (left < right, p = 0.022) and perpendicular diffusion (left > right, p < 0.001); ii) in the post-surgery group there was also a side effect with parallel diffusion (left < right, p = 0.030) and fractional anisotropy (left < right, p = 0.018) and iii) there was no statistically significant side-to-side changes before and after surgery.