Abstract #4334

Quantitative Assessment of the Cortico-Spinal Tracts in Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease Following Cardiopulmoray Bypass Surgery.

Malek I. Makki¹, Rabia Liamlahi², Hintendu Dave³, Ianina Scheer¹, Walter Knirsch², Bea Latal⁴, Achim Schmitz⁵, Vera Bernet⁶, Christian Kellenberger¹

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

We performed DT-MRI to study major white matter tracts of neonates with congenital heart disease. This investigation was carried out before and after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. The inferior corticospinal tracts (CS), the cerebral peduncle (CP) and the posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC) were studied bilaterally. In both pre-surgery and post-surgery groups we observed that: 1) left and right CS are statistically identical and 2) left and right CP are statistically identical. The PLIC demonstrated an asymmetric delay of white matter maturation observed pre-surgery (FAleft < FAright, p = 0.003) and post-surgery (FAleft < FAright, p = 0.022).