The study aims at investigating the role of cyanotic congenital heart disease (cCHD) on brain aging. The investigators assume that due to congenital and acquired cardiovascular abnormalities, cCHD patients could show radiologic (and clinical) signs of precocious brain aging and eventual cognitive decline.

White matter hyperintensities burden will be quantified through a semi-autamated software (ITK-SNAP)

Inclusion Criteria:

• for the patient group, being an adult subject affected with cyanotic congenital heart disease, whether surgically corrected or not.
• for the control group, being an healthy subject.

Exclusion Criteria:

• any contraindication to magnetic resonance imaging;

• any pathological condition and/or symptomp that could alter the white matter hyperintensities burden, among which:

  • inflammatory, infectious, demyelinating or dysmyelinating diseases of the CNS;
  • ischemic, haemorrhagic or traumatic brain events and eventual gliotic and malacic or lacunar sequelae;
  • genetic diseases (whether mendelian or mitochondrial) of the CNS;
  • cerebral amyloid angiopathy;
  • CADASIL;
  • cerebral arteriovenous malformations;
  • primary or metastatic brain neoplasms which cause neurological symptoms and/or brain parenchymal sequelae from surgical excision;
  • patent oval foramen;
  • being pregnant;
  • migraine with aura (Bashir, Lipton, Ashina, & Ashina, 2013).

• for the patient group, being an adult subject affected with cyanotic congenital heart disease, whether surgically corrected or not;
• for the control group, being an healthy subject.