Henning Bundgaard

Henning Bundgaard says: “Certain environmental factors and disorders in the expecting mother are associated with heart defects in the newborn. However, these factors may also be associated with more subtle abnormalities in the newborn heart that may present much later in life. This project will investigate the association between common maternal risk factors (diabetes, thyroid and connective tissue disorders) and more overt modifiable factors (smoking, weight and night-shifts) during pregnancy and the impact on the heart in the newborn and later in childhood, through heart examinations of children at birth and again at 5 and 10 years of age. This project will generate knowledge of which neonatally identified subtle abnormalities may require follow-up or even early intervention. The major expectation is to obtain insight into the effects or contributing factors to subgroups of cardiac disorders seen in adults including coronary artery disease, arrhythmias, heart failure, valve calcification and hypertension.”

Henning Bundgaard is Consultant in cardiology at Department of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, and has been Professor at Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, since 2015.

Photo: Rigshospitalet