[The psychoneurological status of newborn infants with congenital heart disease before surgical intervention]. / Estado psiconeurológico de los recién nacidos afectados de cardiopatía congénita antes de su intervención.

AIMS: This study was conducted to evaluate, from a psychological and neurological point of view, the situation of newborn infants (NI) suffering from congenital heart disease before they are treated surgically. At the same time, we aimed to compare this group of patients with another group of children who were considered to be healthy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients psychological development was evaluated using developmental landmarks from the Observational Scale of Development (OSD), which provides a percentage of elements acquired in different areas. Behaviour was evaluated by the observational recording of particular patterns of behaviour. The neurological study was based on a detailed neonatal examination, performed by people from the Child Neurology Section at our hospital, and which took into account the different behaviours displayed by the NI: reactive, grasping, communicative and affective. RESULTS: Findings show significant differences both in the psychological and neurological variables studied. They show how, generally speaking, healthy infants score higher in the areas of development that were evaluated than children suffering from heart disease. Likewise, lower average scores were observed in heart disease patients who require an early intervention, as compared with those who will be submitted to surgery later on. From the neurological point of view, a number of significant differences were found in their muscular activity. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis, a groundbreaker in the study of infants suffering from heart disease before their surgical intervention, shows how newborn infants who have been submitted to surgery in the neonatal period present a significant degree of hypotonia, a certain frailness and retardation in their motor development.

Estado psiconeurológico de los recién nacidos afectados de cardiopatía congénita antes de su intervención / The psychoneurological status of newborn infants with congenital heart disease before surgical intervention

Objetivo. Este estudio se llevó a cabo para evaluar, desde un punto de vista psicológico y neurológico, la situación de los recién nacidos que padecen una cardiopatía congénita, antes de tratarse quirúrgicamente, y, a su vez, comparar este grupo de pacientes con otro grupo de niños considerados sanos. Pacientes y métodos. El desarrollo psicológico se evaluó mediante hitos evolutivos procedentes de la escala observacional del desarrollo, la cual proporciona un porcentaje de elementos adquiridos en diversas áreas. El comportamiento se evalúa mediante el registro observacional de determinados patrones de conducta. El estudio neurológico se basó en un detallado examen neurológico neonatal, realizado por personas adscritas a la Sección de Neurología Infantil de nuestro hospital, en el que se tuvieron en cuenta las distintas conductas del recién nacido: reactiva, prensora, comunicativa y afectiva. Resultados. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas, tanto en las variables psicológicas estudiadas como en las neurológicas. Muestran que, en general, los niños sanos obtienen puntuaciones más altas en las áreas de desarrollo evaluadas que los niños afectados de cardiopatías. Asimismo, se observan menores puntuaciones medias en los cardiópatas que deben intervenirse precozmente, que en los que se intervendrán con posterioridad. Desde el punto de vista neurológico, se encontraron unas diferencias significativas en la actividad muscular. Conclusiones. El presente análisis, pionero en el estudio de los niños cardiópatas antes de su intervención, demuestra que los neonatos que se han intervenido en el período neonatal ya presentaban, de forma significativa, hipotonía, cierta fragilidad y retraso en el desarrollo motor (AU)

Aims. This study was conducted to evaluate, from a psychological and neurological point of view, the situation of newborn infants (NI) suffering from congenital heart disease before they are treated surgically. At the same time, we aimed to compare this group of patients with another group of children who were considered to be healthy. Patients and methods. Patients’ psychological development was evaluated using developmental landmarks from the Observational Scale of Development (OSD), which provides a percentage of elements acquired in different areas. Behaviour was evaluated by the observational recording of particular patterns of behaviour. The neurological study was based on a detailed neonatal examination, performed by people from the Child Neurology Section at our hospital, and which took into account the different behaviours displayed by the NI: reactive, grasping, communicative and affective. Results. Findings show significant differences both in the psychological and neurological variables studied. They show how, generally speaking, healthy infants score higher in the areas of development that were evaluated than children suffering from heart disease. Likewise, lower average scores were observed in heart disease patients who require an early intervention, as compared with those who will be submitted to surgery later on. From the neurological point of view, a number of significant differences were found in their muscular activity. Conclusions. This analysis, a groundbreaker in the study of infants suffering from heart disease before their surgical intervention, shows how newborn infants who have been submitted to surgery in the neonatal period present a significant degree of hypotonia, a certain frailness and retardation in their motor development (AU)