Medical Specialties Commons^™

Aberrant Brain Functional Connectivity In Newborns With Congenital Heart Disease Before Cardiac Surgery, Josepheen De Asis-Cruz, Mary T. Donofrio, Gilbert Vezina, Catherine Limperopoulos

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Newborns with congenital heart disease (CHD) requiring open heart surgery are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental disabilities. Recent quantitative MRI studies have reported disrupted growth, microstructure, and metabolism in fetuses and newborns with complex CHD. To date, no study has examined whether functional brain connectivity is altered in this high-risk population after birth, before surgery. Our objective was to compare whole-brain functional connectivity of resting state networks in healthy, term newborns (n = 82) and in term neonates with CHD before surgery (n = 30) using graph theory and network-based statistics. We report for the first time intact global network …

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Neonatal Screening Of Critical Congenital Heart Defects In China., Ruoyan Gai Tobe, Gerard R Martin, Fuhai Li, Akinori Moriichi, Bin Wu, Rintaro Mori

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background: Pulse oximetry screening is a highly accurate tool for the early detection of critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) in newborn infants. As the technique is simple, noninvasive, and inexpensive, it has potentially significant benefits for developing countries. The aim of this study is to provide information for future clinical and health policy decisions by assessing the costeffectiveness of CCHD screening in China.

Methods and Findings: We developed a cohort model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of screening all Chinese newborns annually using 3 possible screening options compared to no intervention: pulse oximetry alone, clinical assessment alone, and pulse oximetry as …

Validating Candidate Congenital Heart Disease Genes In Drosophila., Jun-Yi Zhu, Yulong Fu, Adam Richman, Zhe Han

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Genomic sequencing efforts can implicate large numbers of genes and de novo mutations as potential disease risk factors. A high throughput in vivo model system to validate candidate gene association with pathology is therefore useful. We present such a system employing Drosophila to validate candidate congenital heart disease (CHD) genes. The protocols exploit comprehensive libraries of UAS-GeneX-RNAi fly strains that when crossed into a 4×Hand-Gal4 genetic background afford highly efficient cardiac-specific knockdown of endogenous fly orthologs of human genes. A panel of quantitative assays evaluates phenotypic severity across multiple cardiac parameters. These include developmental lethality, larva and adult heart morphology, …

High Throughput In Vivo Functional Validation Of Candidate Congenital Heart Disease Genes In Drosophila., Jun-Yi Zhu, Yulong Fu, Margaret Nettleton, Adam Richman, Zhe Han

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Genomic sequencing has implicated large numbers of genes and de novo mutations as potential disease risk factors. A high throughput in vivo model system is needed to validate gene associations with pathology. We developed a Drosophila-based functional system to screen candidate disease genes identified from Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) patients. 134 genes were tested in the Drosophila heart using RNAi-based gene silencing. Quantitative analyses of multiple cardiac phenotypes demonstrated essential structural, functional, and developmental roles for more than 70 genes, including a subgroup encoding histone H3K4 modifying proteins. We also demonstrated the use of Drosophila to evaluate cardiac phenotypes resulting …

Native T1 Values Identify Myocardial Changes And Stratify Disease Severity In Patients With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy., Laura J. Olivieri, Peter Kellman, Robert J. Mccarter, Russell R. Cross, Michael S. Hansen, Christopher F. Spurney

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked, inherited disorder causing dilated cardiomyopathy with variable onset and progression. Currently we lack objective markers of the effect of therapies targeted towards preventing progression of subclinical cardiac disease. Thus, our aim was to compare the ability of native T1 and extracellular volume (ECV) measurements to differentiate risk of myocardial disease in DMD and controls.

METHODS: Twenty boys with DMD and 16 age/gender-matched controls without history predisposing to cardiac fibrosis, but with a clinical indication for cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) evaluation, underwent CMR with contrast. Data points collected include left ventricular ejection fraction …