Hippocampal morphometry is altered in children with congenital heart disease

Motivation: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is associated with altered brain development, as well as an increased prevalence of neurodevelopmental impairments. The hippocampus in particular is hypothesised to be altered in individuals with CHD. Goal(s): We aimed to assess hippocampal subfield morphometry in children with CHD and controls. Approach: We compared hippocampal morphometric measures between children with CHD (n=20) and controls (n=104) aged 7-8 years using HippUnfold. Results: Children with CHD demonstrated bilateral smaller total hippocampal, cornu ammonis 1, dentate gyrus, and stratum radiatum and lacunosum moleculare volumes (PFDR < 0.05) and reductions in gyrification at the vertex-wise level (PFWE < 0.025). Impact: This study extends previous work showing reduced hippocampal volume in this population by identifying reduced hippocampal gyrification and subfield volume in children with CHD. Altered hippocampal development may be a key determinant of neurodevelopmental impairments observed in children with CHD.