Recent medical and surgical advances have greatly enhanced the survival of children with congenital heart defects that were once considered lethal or extremely debilitating. Consequently there now is a shift in concern from the integrity of the heart to that of the brain. Studies that describe the spectrum of developmental disabilities are lacking in these new survivors. / The primary objective of this doctoral thesis was to characterize the extent and nature of neurodevelopmental impairments and disabilities in young infants with congenital heart defects, using a range of standardized developmental and functional measures, as well as electrophysiological techniques. A high prevalence of acute neurologic, motor, and global developmental impairments were present in our cohort at the time of surgery, and persisted well after surgical intervention. Moreover, functional difficulties and greater dependence in self-care and mobility were also common in this population. Somatosensory evoked potential abnormalities in newborns were found to be very predictive of developmental delays. Multiple markers (i.e. medical, surgical, developmental, and environmental) of brain injury were identified that appear to collectively mediate the outcome of this vulnerable group of children. / Clearly, this is a high-risk population that would benefit from routine developmental screening by rehabilitation specialists. This would facilitate early identification of those at risk and permit the institution of early intervention programs to maximize outcome and minimize burden of care.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.38223 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Limperopoulos, Catherine. |
| Contributors | Majnemer, Annette (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (School of Physical and Occupational Therapy.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001861877, proquestno: NQ78718, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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