Answer
The following are the physiological consequences of transposition of the great arteries ( aorta and pulmonary arteries):
1. Oxygen poor blood ( carbon dioxide rich) delivered to the right side of the heart by the venae cavae goes back into the systemic circulation by way of the wrongly sited aorta.
2. Oxygenated blood from the lungs, enters the left chambers of the heart and out back to the lungs
by way of the pulmonary arteries without going o the rest of the body.
Symptoms:
a. Cyanosis: A bluish purple tint of the skin and mucous membranes due to the low O2( high CO2)
content of the blood in the systemic circulation.
b. Shortness of breath (SOB)
c. Poor appetite
d. Failure to thrive-- by babies
Work Step by Step
ransosition of the great arteries is a sub-type of the general set of abnormalities referred to as transposition of the great vessels.
Some causes of these cardiovascular structural abnormalities are
a. Genetic abnormalities
b. Bacterial infections
c. Fungal infections
d. Autoimmune activities
Most instances of transposition of the great vessels are idiopathic-- the causes are unknown.
