Could Any Neurological Disorder Be Present In An Infant Who Is Diagnosed With Congenital Heart Disease?

Posted on Thu, 27 Jan 2022

Question: Dear sir/Madam,

My second daughter aged 22days was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. My first daughter 7 years old is good in all respects.
I'm attaching here with the report.
I want to know whether any other problems like neurological disorders may be present? How to know any other problems that may be present at this stage like cognitive ability or motor skills or any other.

Thank you

Answered by Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (57 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Neurological disorders are assessed mainly by clinical evaluation

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

In echo report, there is PFO and apical(muscular) VSD. This is the most common type of VSD which gets closed as the baby grows.

At this age, this does not require any medical or surgical treatment. The baby may become symptomatic when lungs pressure gets decreased, usually at age of 6-8 weeks.

The cardiologist must have explained to you about the follow-up and outcome in detail.
If you notice any feeding difficulty, rapid breathing, excessive sweating while feeding or any other significant issues please consult your pediatrician/cardiologist.

Regarding neurological issues, I would like to know, why you are worried about that.
VSD's are usually not associated with any neurological problems.

I won't get overly worried if the baby has cried immediately after birth, early neonatal history is uneventful, the baby is otherwise active, accepting feeds well and there is no other significant abnormality.

The neurological status at this age is usually assessed by clinical examination and the picture gets cleared as the baby grows.

You can get a screening hearing test done and consult a pediatrician for clinical evaluation. You may go for neurological assessment and also for VSD follow up.

I hope this helps.
Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (28 minutes later)

Sir Thankyou for Your prompt reply. actually I have 3 sisters and all their children including my elder daughter are very good in all respects except my younger sister's only daughter who suffered the similar problem of CHD but she had 3 holes at the time of birth. She is 5 years old presently but facing problems with speech and walk. So I'm very much concerned with any associated problems.
My daughter has cried at the time of birth, she is accepting feed good.
I request you to suggest any other tests to over rule any other associated problems.
Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (9 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Get clinically evaluated by a pediatrician

Detailed Answer:
Hi

I can understand your concern but at this age nothing specific can be done to say about the future neurological status particularly if there is no significant history like delayed cry after birth, decreased activity, any abnormal movement etc.
I would suggest you to consult a pediatrician for clinical evaluation and get one hearing assessment done if suggested.
Upto 90% of brain growth occurs in initial two years of life and any insult to the brain during this period may cause neurological damage.
Proper clinical evaluation at frequent interval during regular immunisation helps in early recognition of any neurological insult.
I can understand your cause of worry. You can consult a pediatric neurologist to alleviate your anxiety and if anything special can be done.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (4 hours later)

Sir
Kindly spare with my questions if I seem repeating. But my wife got 1:235 risk level in triple marker but the Amniocentesis and karyotype came back normal. Tiffa was normal. So can I rely upon that there could be no neurological or genetical problems in child. (Also my sister's daughter who is lagging in speech and walk was diagnosed with ASD.)
Thankyou for taking your time in answering my queries.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (23 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Better consult a pediatric neurologist

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Sorry for delayed reply.
I can understand your concern but again I would suggest you to consult a pediatric neurologist to alleviate your anxiety.
I have gone through the detail. The amniocentesis and karyotyping during fetal life usually rules our the major chromosomal anomaly/syndromes. Similarly TIFFA rules out major structural anomaly.
If all these tests are normal and otherwise there is no history suggestive of neurological insult suggests that there is no major neurological issue.
But again neonatal life is too early to predict about the future outcome. Based on these reports you can be assured about the future outcome grossly. But it is too early to predict as still brain is growing. So I would suggest you to consult a pediatric neurologist for better evaluation.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy