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Patterns of WISC-V Performance in Children with Congenital Heart Disease

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Abstract

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common congenital birth defects. As surgical and interventional techniques have improved, the mortality has been greatly reduced and the focus has shifted to quality of life and long-term outcomes. The impact of CHD on development and cognition is becoming increasingly recognized. However, more research is needed to understand how children with CHD perform across various cognitive and intellectual domains. This study explored the performance of children with CHD on the newest version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children compared to normative controls. Children with CHD performed more poorly than normal controls across all indices and most subtests with large effect sizes. Additionally, we explored the patterns of impairment across indices and subtests, as well as the relationships between heard disease variables and WISC-V performance. Block design, Digit Span, and Similarities were the most commonly impaired scores in children with CHD, while Symbol Search, Picture Span, Figure Weights, and Vocabulary were least likely to be impaired.

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Notes

  1. Standardization data from the WISC-V. Copyright © 2014 NCS Pearson NCS Pearson, Inc. Data used with permission. All rights reserved. NCS Pearson, Inc.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all of those who helped collect, enter, and maintain these data in the REDCap database, including (alphabetically by last name) Christina Bigras, Dominique Bonneville, Shauna Bulman, Dr. Helen Carlson, Claire David, Hussain Daya, Jessica Doiron, Lauren Janzen, Andrea Jubinville, Christianne Laliberté-Durish, Shelby MacPhail, Lisa McColm, Lonna Mitchell, Alysha Rajaram, Carlie Redekopp, Kalina Slepicka, Shane Virani, and Nikola Zivanovic. Thanks to the families who agreed to participate in our research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurosciences Program, Alberta Children’s Hospital, 28 Oki Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T3B 6A8, Canada

    Marsha Vasserman, Brian L. Brooks, Lisa McColm, Sandra Mish & William S. MacAllister

  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Marsha Vasserman & William S. MacAllister

  3. Child Brain and Mental Health Program, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Canada

    Marsha Vasserman, Brian L. Brooks & William S. MacAllister

  4. Cardiology, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Canada

    Kimberly Myers & Norma Becker

  5. Cummings School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Kimberly Myers

  6. Departments of Pediatrics, Clinical Neurosciences, and Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Brian L. Brooks

  7. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, Canada

    Taryn B. Fay-McClymont

  8. Private Practice, Kelowna, Canada

    Taryn B. Fay-McClymont

Authors
  1. Marsha Vasserman
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  8. William S. MacAllister
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Contributions

All authors were responsible for aspects of data collection. MV wrote the main manuscript and prepared the tables. LM completed part of the statistical analyses and BB provided additional feedback for statistical procedures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marsha Vasserman.

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Conflict of interest

Brian Brooks receives royalties for the sales of the Pediatric Forensic Neuropsychology textbook (Oxford University Press), the Child and Adolescent Memory Profile (ChAMP, Sherman and Brooks, 2015, PAR Inc.), the Memory Validity Profile (MVP, Sherman and Brooks, 2015, PAR Inc.), and the Multidimensional Everyday Memory Ratings for Youth (MEMRY, Sherman and Brooks, 2017, PAR Inc.). Brian Brooks, Taryn Fay-McClymont, and Elisabeth Sherman have private practices where they evaluate youth. Brian Brooks receives honoraria for talks and grant funding for pediatric research. Marsha Vasserman and William MacAllister also receive honoraria for talks and some grant funds for research. Brian Brooks is a paid consultant for the NHL Concussion Program. The other authors do not have conflicts of interest to declare.

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Vasserman, M., Myers, K., Brooks, B.L. et al. Patterns of WISC-V Performance in Children with Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatr Cardiol 45, 483–490 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-023-03367-8

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