Hippocampal subfield alterations and working memory in children with congenital heart disease

Reduced hippocampal volumes are associated with working memory impairments in children with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, the volumes of individual hippocampal subfields are largely unexplored in the context of different working memory domains in CHD. In 57 children with complex CHD and 82 age-matched control children, the CHD group showed smaller hippocampal subvolumes, particularly for the hippocampal tail, and poorer verbal and spatial working memory scores, which were differentially related to the hippocampal subvolumes. In addition, hippocampal volumes in cyanotic CHD were significantly smaller than in acyanotic CHD, supporting the link between hypoxia, hippocampal damage, and memory impairment.