Figure 1

Brain volumes in transposition of the great arteries with (TGA/IVS) or without intact ventricular septum (TGA/VSD) and hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). ‘0' on x-axis = 38 weeks gestational age (GA); black solid line: normal mean brain volume ± 1 SD (grey broken line) from autopsy series⁶; coloured lines: individual patient; ‘O': GA at birth; ‘X': time of surgery. (A) The brain in TGA/IVS continues to grow well after birth and surgery. (B) The brain growth in TGA/VSD plateaus or drops after birth and is not reverted immediately after surgery. (C) The TGA/VSD have lower brain growth rate than normals (blue line) during the 38 - 44 weeks GA. (D) The HLHS group showed similar decline in brain volume after cardiac surgery.