ABSTRACT
Children with similar cardiac surgery, who were operated upon under moderate hypothermia and continuous cardiopulmonary bypass, had scores comparable to those of their siblings. Despite a relatively large number of studies of developmental outcome after circulatory arrest, the developmental impact of this technique remains uncertain. All assessments were conducted at 8 a.m. in a testing suite in the Child Development Unit of Children’s Hospital. Children who were assigned to the circulatory arrest group had significantly lower scores on the Psychomotor Development Index and a tendency to lower Mental Development Index scores. No relationship was found between treatment assignment and findings on the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence, a test of visual recognition memory. The developmental status of children randomized to the predominantly total circulatory arrest method of vital organ support was significantly worse than that of children randomized to the predominantly low-flow bypass method.
