Congenital heart disease in newborns is associated with global impairment in development. We characterized brain metabolism and microstructure, as measures of brain maturation, in newborns with congenital heart disease before they underwent heart surgery. Methods We studied 41 term newborns with congenital heart disease — 29 who had transposition of the great arteries and 12 who had single-ventricle physiology — with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) before cardiac surgery
