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Transposition of the Great Arteries
What is it?
Transposition of the great arteries is a serious birth defect in which the origin of the pulmonary artery, which carries blood from the heart to the lungs, and the aorta, which carries blood to the body, are reversed.
Infants with this condition survive if they also have a heart deformity that lets oxygen-rich blood reach the body. This could be from having a hole between the atria.
This is called an atrial septal defect.
It could also be through a patent ductus arteriosus. This occurs when the blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood from the mother to the baby's aorta and the rest of its body is left open after birth.
Most babies with transposition of the great arteries are very blue (cyanotic) soon after birth.
How is it treated?
Surgery is needed right away to fix the condition. The surgery switches the arteries to the correct locations.