[Morphological indicators of CNS changes in cyanotic and non-cyanotic congenital heart defects in the developmental age. Nerve cells and their processes studied by staining, impregnation and electron microscopy.I. Development of dendrites studied by the Golgi method].

Morphometric evaluation of cortical neurons in children with congenital heart defect of cyanotic and non-cyanotic++ type was performed. Investigations based on autopsied material included three age groups of 6, 12 and 24 months respectively in both of the two groups with heart defect and in the control group. Formalin-fixed samples taken from frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal cortex were embedded in celoidin and slices were impregnated according to the Golgi procedure. The development of dendrites was estimated using three different and independent morphometric methods. The results were statistically analysed to reveal a putative mutual dependence between the type of disease, age and localization in cerebral hemispheres and development of dendrites. The study disclosed significant differences in the dendritic tree in relation to the heart defect, especially that of cyanotic type as compared with the control group. A comparison between the groups with the heart defect and the control disclosed significant differences in the dendritic tree. The most remarkable difference was noted in the group of cyanotic heart disease in which the development of the dendritic tree was markedly retarded. No differences between particular localizations in cerebral hemispheres have been found. The validity of Golgi method for investigation of neuron structure was emphasized.