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Interrupted Aortic Arch
What is it?
Interrupted aortic arch is a birth defect in which the aorta is divided or interrupted.
After the aorta leaves the heart, it goes through the chest and then arches down toward the lower half of the body. Because the aorta is divided, it cannot carry blood from the left ventricle to the lower body.
Usually, there is also a hole in the septum between the right and left ventricles called a ventricular septal defect.
A baby survives by getting blood through the patent ductus arteriosus, a part of the unborn baby's blood system that usually closes soon after birth.
The ductus arteriosus is a wide, strong blood vessel that joins the pulmonary artery to the aorta.
This connection lets blood flow away from the lungs and into the aorta during a baby's development since he does not breathe until after birth.
The ductus usually carries oxygen-poor blood but because of the ventricular septal defect, there is more oxygen in the blood.
How is it treated?
Surgery will connect the two separate parts of the aorta, close the ventricular septal defect, and close the patent ductus arteriosus.