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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffPotential complications of transposition of the great arteries include:
- Lack of oxygen to tissues. Your baby's tissues may be getting too little oxygen (hypoxia).
- Heart failure. Unless there's some mixing of oxygen-rich blood and oxygen-poor blood within the body, heart failure — a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs — may develop.
- Lung damage. The lack of oxygenated blood causes damage to the lungs, making breathing difficult.
Severe cases of transposition of the great arteries may be fatal in as few as six months if corrective surgery isn't done.
Babies who have surgery to correct transposition of the great arteries sometimes have the following associated conditions later in life:
- Leaky heart valves
- Narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart (coronary arteries)
- Heart rhythm abnormalities (arrhythmias)
- Heart muscle weakness or stiffness leading to heart failure
- Transposition of the great arteries. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/TranspositionGreatArteries.htm. Accessed Feb. 9, 2010.
- d-Transposition of the great arteries. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11074. Accessed Feb. 9, 2010.
- Transposition of the great arteries. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec19/ch287/ch287h.html. Accessed Feb. 9, 2010.
- Congenital heart defects. The March of Dimes. http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1212.asp. Accessed Feb. 9, 2010.
- Aboulhosn JA, et al. Congenital heart disease in adults. In: Fuster V, et al. Hurst's The Heart. 12th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3073065. Accessed Feb. 11, 2010.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 16, 2010.
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