Babies born with congenital heart disease are at a higher risk for learning problems later on in childhood, but correctly identifying these children early on has been difficult say researchers.
In a study conducted among 135 children with a congenital heart problem called D-transposition of the great arteries , all the children had the condition corrected by surgery. The children were then tested for development and intelligence when they were 1 year old and then again for IQ and achievement when they were 8 years old. The goal was to see if the early test results predicted the later test results.Researchers say they found that nearly all of the children who scored within the normal range on the IQ and achievement tests at age 8 had scored within the normal range on the infant tests. But more than half of those who scored below normal at age 8 had not scored below normal at age 1. In conclusion researchers say that their findings show that early tests may be only partially helpful in determining which children are at risk for learning problems in childhood.
