Brain abnormalities in cognition, anxiety, and depression regulatory regions in adolescents with single ventricle heart disease

Background Single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) adolescents show cognitive impairments and anxiety and depressive symptoms, indicating the possibility of brain injury in regions that control these functions. However, brain tissue integrity in cognition, anxiety, and depression regulatory sites in SVHD remains unclear. We examined brain tissue changes in SVHD compared to controls using T2‐relaxometry procedures, which measure free water content and show tissue injury. Methods Proton‐density and T2‐weighted images, using a 3.0‐Tesla MRI, as well as anxiety (Beck anxiety inventory [BAI]), depressive symptoms (patient health questionnaire‐9 [PHQ‐9]), and cognition (wide range assessment of memory and learning 2 [WRAML2] and Montreal cognitive assessment [MoCA]) data were collected from 20 SVHD (age: 15.8 ± 1.1 years, male/female: 11/9) and 36 controls (age: 16.0 ± 1.1 years, male/female: 19/17). Whole‐brain T2‐relaxation maps were calculated, normalized to a common space, smoothed, and compared between groups and sexes (analysis of covariance; covariates: age, sex; p