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Slide show: Common types of congenital heart defects
Slide show
Slide show: Common types of congenital heart defects
By Mayo Clinic staff
Transposition of the great arteries
With this defect, the positions of the aorta — the main artery leading away from the heart — and the pulmonary artery, which leads to the lungs, are reversed (transposed). The aorta and pulmonary artery are, together, sometimes referred to as the great arteries. In transposition of the great arteries, the aorta arises from the right ventricle instead of the left ventricle and the pulmonary artery arises from the left ventricle instead of the right. This prevents nourishing oxygenated blood from reaching the body.
This condition would quickly be fatal to a newborn except it's generally accompanied by another defect — commonly a septal defect or patent ductus arteriosus — that allows oxygen-rich blood to get to the body. Surgery to repair the condition is usually necessary shortly after birth.
Next slide Previous slide- Congenital cardiovascular defects. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4565. Accessed Aug.10, 2010.
- Ventricular septal defect (VSD). American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11066. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Atrial septal defect (ASD). American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11065. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Patent ductus arteriosus. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/pda/pda_what.html. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Pulmonary valve stenosis and regurgitation. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11070. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Aortic stenosis. The Merck Manuals: Home Edition for Patients and Caregivers. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec03/ch028/ch028f.html. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Coarctation of the aorta. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11069. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Transposition of the great arteries. American heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11074. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Tetralogy of Fallot. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/tof/tof_all.html. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Attenhofer Jost CH, et al. Ebstein's anomaly. Circulation. 2007;115:277.
- Atrioventricular canal defect. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=132. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1353. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Truncus arteriosus. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11073. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.

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