Genetic link between heart and neurodevelopmental disease
Thursday, December 3, 2015 - 21:10
in Health & Medicine
Children with significant congenital heart disease have a far better chance of surviving today than in decades past, thanks to major advances in surgery. But some infants who recover from repairs to their hearts later show the effects of delays in brain development. But why? In a new study, researchers reported exome sequence analyses of more than 1,200 children and their parents and showed that children with both congenital heart disease and neurodevelopmental delays share certain genetic mutations that thwart the normal development of both the heart and the brain.