Research progress of white matter injury following congenital heart disease / 国际儿科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect.With the significant improvements of cardiac surgical techniques,the survival of newborns and infants with complex congenital heart disease(CHD) has obviously been increased.However,neurological sequelae are still common and up to 25 ％ ～50％.The most important lesion after CHD surgery is white matter(WM) injury.Recent studies show that periventricular leukomalacia disease characterized by WM injury is common in C-HD infants especially after cardiac surgery.It is previously thought to be due to the cardiopulmonary bypass and surgical operation.However,with the advances in surgery and medical diagnostic technology and development of basic research in recent years,it is discovered that WM injury in infants with CHD is a complex lesion influenced by preoperative,operating and postoperative factors.The movement disorders and the defects of attention,learning and other aspects in the late growth of these children bring a huge economic burden to the family and society,reducing the quality of the population.Therefore,exploring etiology,mechanisms and control methods of WM injury in infants with CHD becomes a hot topic in recent years,and it may also become an important direction for future research,aiming to the significant improvements in CHD children with neurodevelopmental damages.