Pulmonary atresia

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pulmonary atresia is a congenital birth defect of the pulmonary valve in which the valve does not develop. The valve is completely closed making it harder for blood to travel from the heart to the lungs.

The pulmonary valve is located on the right side of the heart between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery. In a normal functioning heart, the opening to the pulmonary valve has three flaps that open and close; however with this defect some of the flaps are not formed.[1]

The symptoms/signs of pulmonary atresia that will happen in babies would include fatigue and some shortness of breath.[2]

Pulmonary atresia can be fatal if no emergency surgery is done. If surgery is done, most children affected by this can live normal lives although problems such as strokes, heart disease and seizures are possible.[3]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Pulmonic Valve Anatomy: Overview, Pathophysiologic Variants". 2017-09-14. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Pulmonary atresia: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia". www.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  3. Abuhamad, Alfred Z.; Chaoui, Rabih (2012-03-28). A Practical Guide to Fetal Echocardiography: Normal and Abnormal Hearts. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 185–86. ISBN 9781451147803.