# Prenatal Screening and Mechanisms Responsible for Critical Congenital Heart Disease in Mississippi, a Rural and Medically Underserved Population

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MED CTR · 2020 · $310,605

## Abstract

PROJECT IV: PRENATAL SCREENING AND MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR
CRITICAL CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE IN MISSISSIPPI, A RURAL AND
MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATION
SUMMARY
Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the leading cause of infant deaths due to birth
defects, occurring in nearly 40,000 newborns in the U.S. each year (~1% of all live
births), and are one of the most common reasons for the use of health services among
children with chronic conditions. Twenty five percent of CHDs are critical CHDs
(CCHD), defined as those requiring surgical or catheter intervention in the first year of
life for survival. In Mississippi (MS), the incidence of some CCHDs is higher than in other
similar U.S. populations. The origins of most CHDs are thought to be multifactorial,
involving genetic and environmental factors yet to be identified. Thus the reasons for the
increased incidence of CCHDs in MS are unknown.
 Mississippi has one of the highest rates of obesity in the US, especially among
African Americans. There have been few studies done evaluating the role of maternal
obesity and the incidence of CCHD. Whether obesity and concomitant type II diabetes
contribute to the increased incidence of CCHD in MS is not clear. Thus the studies
proposed in this application will test the hypothesis that obesity and type II diabetes
contribute to the increased incidence of CCHD in MS.
 Another potential reason for the increased incidence of CCHDs in MS may be
undiagnosed consanguinity (blood relation between parents) among affected couples.
According to 2012 US census data, approximately 72% of MS residents were born in
MS. Limited migration among residents of MS compared to other states suggests that
some level of unknown consanguinity might be prevalent. Thus the studies in this
application will test the hypothesis that undiagnosed consanguinity among parents
contributes to the elevated incidence of CCHD in MS.
 Improvement in prenatal screening is another challenge for MS. Because many MS
residents live in rural areas with limited access to specialized health care during
pregnancy, the need to improve prenatal screening of CCHDs is imperative. Thus
development and standardization of novel methods of fetal sonography screening are
needed to improve in utero detection of CCHDs and development of novel and cost-
effective telehealth-based protocol for echocardiographic (ECHO) prenatal CCHD
screening could improve detection rate of CCHDs in underserved areas. The specific
aims of this project include: 1) to test the hypothesis that maternal obesity and type II
diabetes (DM) contribute to the increased incidence of CCHD in infants in MS; 2) to test
the hypothesis that undiagnosed consanguinity among parents in MS contributes to the
increased incidence of CCHD in MS; 3) to test the hypothesis that a standardized
scoring system utilizing a limited number of sonographic images obtained at routine
obstetric evaluation can reliably identify fetuses with CCHD or features suggestive/hi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9985909
- **Project number:** 5P20GM121334-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MED CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Aimee S Parnell
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $310,605
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9985909

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9985909, Prenatal Screening and Mechanisms Responsible for Critical Congenital Heart Disease in Mississippi, a Rural and Medically Underserved Population (5P20GM121334-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9985909. Licensed CC0.

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