Infants with congenital heart defects have an excess incidence of microcephaly.
Children with congenital heart defects have high rates of central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities. Research has focused on identifying perioperative and intraoperative causes; data about intrauterine causes are conflicting. To identify risk factors for microcephaly in newborns with isolated congenital heart defects, these authors conducted a retrospective case-control study in 401 singleton infants with congenital heart defects (born in 1998–2007) at a children's hospital in Michigan and 401 sex- and race-matched healthy controls born within 3 months of index cases at a nearby hospital. Infants with chromosomal defects, extracardiac anomalies, or genetic syndromes were excluded.
Mothers of cases were significantly older (28 vs. 26 years),…