Transposition Of The Great Arteries

The "great arteries" in this anomaly refer to the aorta and the pulmonary artery, the two major arteries carrying blood away from the heart. In cases of transposition of the great arteries, these vessels arise from the wrong ventricle. They are "transposed" from their normal position so that the aorta arises from the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery from the left ventricle.
Permanent treatment requires a surgical procedure to switch the arteries to their proper places. This operation, called an arterial switch operation, is done within the first few weeks of life. It is an open-heart procedure that requires a temporary stopping of the baby's heart while a heart-lung machine handles respiration and blood circulation. CHDs affect nearly 1% of?or about 40,000?births per year in the United States. Further research is being conducted to determine the best surveillance interval to monitor the disease. Psychological interventions for depression in adolescent and adult congenital heart disease.