Transposition of the Great Arteries

Overview :

There are two great arteries, the pulmonary artery and the aorta. Normally, the pulmonary artery carries blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. The aorta carries blood from the left ventricle to the vessels of the rest of the body.

Normally, blood returning to the heart is depleted in oxygen. It goes first to the right atrium of the heart and then to the right ventricle where it is pumped to the lungs. While in the lungs, the blood picks up more oxygen. After the lungs, the blood flows to the left atrium, then the left ventricle, which pumps the blood out through the aorta to the rest of the body, thereby supplying the body with oxygenated blood.

Transposition of the great arteries results in oxygen-depleted blood going to the body. The reason is that the connection of the two great arteries is reversed. In this case, the aorta is connected to the right ventricle. Blood returning to the heart goes to the right atrium and ventricle, which is normal. Then, when the right ventricle pumps the blood out, it goes into the aorta for distribution throughout the body. At the same time, blood in the lungs goes to the left atrium, the left ventricle, but then back to the lungs. This happens because the pulmonary artery is connected to the left ventricle. The result is that highly-oxygenated blood keeps recycling through the lungs, while oxygen-depleted blood recycles through the body without going through the lungs to reoxygenate.

This condition develops during the fetal stage and must be treated promptly after birth if the newborn is to survive. The newborn can survive for a few days because the foramen ovale, a small hole in the septum that separates the two atria, is open, allowing some oxygenated blood to escape and mix into the blood that is being pumped throughout the body. However, the foramen ovale normally closes within a few days after birth.