My friends son was born with his arteries backwards and had to have them fixed c!
Question:
My friends son was born with his arteries backwards and had to have them fixed can anyone explain this to me?
My friends son was born with his arteries backwards and he has had sugery to fix them when he was 1st born. Now his fingers turn blue and sometimes his lips even when its 90 degrees outside. He also turns bright red in the face after playing or running around. The doctors treat my friend like she is freaking out and overly paranoid. Does anyone know more about this heart condition? I want to be there for her but I just don't understand what is wrong and why it is still causing problems. They said he might have to have a pig valve put in to replace his valve?!
Answers:
By "arteries backwards", do you mean the specific birth defect "transposition of the great vessels"? If not, ignore me.
In a normal heart, the pulmonary artery carries de-oxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs to pick up oxygen, and the aorta carries freshly oxygenated blood from the left ventricle to the rest of the body. If these vessels are transposed, oxygenated blood is sent back to the lungs from the LEFT venticle, and blood without oxygen is sent to the rest of the body from the RIGHT ventricle. Unless there is an additional defect, such as a hole in the ventricular septum which allows at least a little oxygenated blood to the right venticle and then the misplaced aorta, death follows quickly.
The surgery, when he was first born, was an emergency temporary surgery, to create (or enlarge) a hole in the ventricular septum. The blueness is called cyanosis, and it means the body is not getting as much oxygen as it should, even after the surgery the oxygen level is only just barely adequate, and growth and development WILL suffer.
When the son is a few years old, he will be strong enough to undergo the second, permanent surgery, in which the pulmonary artery and the aorta will be swapped so that they are where they are supposed to be, and the hole in the ventricular septum will be closed. If all goes well, he will be normal thereafter.
Good luck to him.