NeuroCardio Baby Research Outpatient Clinic: Study on the Neurodevelopment of Infants With Congenital Heart Disease in Brazil

NeuroCardio Baby Research Outpatient Clinic: Study on the Neurodevelopment of Infants With Congenital Heart Disease in Brazil

The objective of this randomized clinical trial is to test the effectiveness of a low-cost hybrid remotely monitored parent-mediated and clinic-based multidisciplinary early intervention (EI) for low-income infants with CHD in Brazil. The intervention protocols will be administered according to age modules, families will be monitored weekly. High risk infants also receive supplemental clinic-based interventions according to developmental needs. Controls will receive standard of care and access to early child development and nutrition practices information from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. All infants will be evaluated at within a 42-month follow-up research outpatient clinic, called NeuroCardio Baby at Santo Antonio Pediatric Hospital, of the Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital Complex, and affiliated with The Cardiology Institute-University Foundation of Cardiology (IC-FUC), Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The objective of this randomized clinical trial is to develop low-cost hybrid remotely monitored parent-mediated multidisciplinary early intervention (EI) protocols for infants with CHD in Brazil. The protocols will be conducted via parents at home according to age modules (0- 3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, and 9-12m), and families will be monitored by clinical researchers weekly. High risk infants will receive supplemental EI services at the clinic according to developmental needs. Infants will receive outcome evaluations within a 42-month follow-up clinic. The aim of this study is to prevent or reduce neurodevelopmental sequelae and developmental delays associated with CHD. Participants in the intervention group receive multidisciplinary EIs in Nutrition (including breastfeeding support), Speech and Language Therapy for tube feeding transition, feeding readiness, and language and motor development and early stimulation for global development in cognitive, language and motor skills according to age milestones. Premature infants will receive age-corrected protocols and evaluations. Caregivers will receive psychological and protocol administration support. The control group receives basic child development, nutrition, and breastfeeding information provided by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, in addition to standard of care cardiac pediatric follow-up visits. Neurodevelopment is assessed with the Brazilian Version of Bayley Developmental Scale for Infants and Toddlers (3rd edition) in both groups, at 6, 12, 24, and 36-42 months. Nutritional outcomes, such as ml of breastmilk drown by mothers, and infant weight and length are measured. The study will compare the developmental outcome scores and parental quality of life scores of the intervention and control groups during the intervention (6 and 12months) and at 1 and 2 years follow up. We believe that infants with CHD who receive monitoring and early multidisciplinary interventions in the first year of life have better neurodevelopmental outcomes than infants who do not receive early multidisciplinary care. In Brazil, access to EI services is extremely limited to urban centers and higher income families. Infants from low-income backgrounds and rural settings are likely to be left without services during early childhood. Our remote, low-cost intervention aims at increasing access to EI for Brazilian infants with CHD.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant women with a fetal diagnosis of CHD
• Child up to two months diagnosed with CHD
• Signature of the electronic free and informed consent form by those parents or legal guardians.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Psychiatric or neurocognitive condition that prevents obtaining reliable clinical data (defined by the clinical judgment of the investigators)
• Inability to read by parents or legal guardians.