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Abstract #3444

Decrease in functional network segregation in infants with congenital heart defects

Vincent Jerome Schmithorst 1 , Jodie Votava-Smith 2 , Vincent Lee 1 , Vidya Rajagopalan 2 , Shaheda Suleiman 2 , Lisa Paquette 2 , and Ashok Panigrahy 1

1 Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 2 Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The effects of congenital heart defects (CHD) on early brain development are not well understood. We used graph analysis in order to better understand the impact of CHD on functional network topology in infants. Compared to healthy control neonates, CHD neonates displayed a marked decrease in segregation metrics including transitivity (p < 0.01) and modularity (p < 0.001); and smaller clustering coefficient in multiple regions mainly in the left hemisphere and greater participation coefficient in multiple regions in both hemispheres. The marked decrease in segregation in CHD neonates suggests lower short-range functional connectivity and global immature brain development.

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