Autism screening and diagnosis in children with congenital heart disease - Takeaways - MDSpire

Autism screening and diagnosis in children with congenital heart disease

  • By

  • Nuria Lisset Ontiveros Perez

  • Pamela M. Rios

  • Virginia A. Marchman

  • Ramkumar Aishworiya

  • Stella Firth Wang

  • Heidi M. Feldman

  • June 16, 2026

  • 0 min

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  • 1

    The study analyzed 94 children with congenital heart disease (CHD) who underwent surgery before discharge and had HRIF visits at 18-30 months.

  • 2

    Prevalence of positive autism screens in this cohort was 14.6%, while the prevalence of autism diagnosis was 11.7%.

  • 3

    Younger age was associated with positive autism screening results, and children with autism had higher public insurance usage.

  • 4

    The Modified Checklist for Autism-Revised/Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F) showed a sensitivity of 66% and a positive predictive value of 57% for autism diagnosis.

  • 5

    Children with CHD were over three times more likely to have positive autism screens and diagnoses compared to the general population.

Original Source(s)

Autism screening and diagnosis in children with congenital heart disease

  • by Nuria Lisset Ontiveros Perez, Pamela M. Rios, Virginia A. Marchman, Ramkumar Aishworiya, Stella Firth Wang, Heidi M. Feldman

  • June 16, 2026

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