A study by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in collaboration with three neonatal intensive care units in Dublin, Ireland has revealed new insights into the differences in heart function and blood pressure in the lungs of babies born with Down Syndrome. The findings will help clinicians to better assess the one in 600 babies who are born with the disorder in Ireland every year.
Heart and lung conditions are common in babies born with Down Syndrome and can require intensive care and longer hospital admissions compared to infants born without it. Approximately half of babies born with Down Syndrome also have congenital heart disease.
After following 70 babies with Down Syndrome over the first two years, the study found impaired changes in heart function and blood pressure in the lungs. Forty-eight babies with Down Syndrome had congenital heart disease and 22 did not. The results from the babies with Down Syndrome were compared to 60 babies without Down Syndrome (controls). All babies enrolled in the study underwent a heart scan (echocardiogram) to assess heart function at six months, one year and two years of age.
Importantly, there were no differences in heart function between those babies with Down Syndrome who had congenital heart disease compared to those without over the study period. This is a significant finding and indicates that all babies with Down Syndrome should have their heart function and blood pressure in their lungs monitored during childhood.
“Until this point, there has been a dearth of evidence to explain why babies with Down Syndrome experience these issues,” says Professor Afif EL-Khuffash, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at RCSI and Consultant Neonatologist, at The Rotunda Hospital. “The results of this study show us that babies with Down Syndrome experience changes in the heart function that leads to increased blood pressure in the lungs.”
The study was funded by the Health Research Board Ireland and the National Children’s Research Centre and is published in the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. “[The findings] will help clinicians to better understand the mechanisms causing these problems and highlights the importance of monitoring heart function in babies with Down Syndrome over time,” says Dr. Aisling Smith, a Neonatology Specialist Registrar who carried out the research as part of her PhD at RCSI.