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Since blood flows from high to low pressure systems, the direction of blood flow across the ductus arteriosus reverses. As the oxygen-rich blood from the aorta flows across the ductus arteriosus to the pulmonary artery, the ductus arteriosus will constrict in response to the high oxygen content of the blood.
The ductus arteriosus, also called the ductus Botalli, named after the Italian physiologist Leonardo Botallo, is a blood vessel in the developing fetus connecting the trunk of the pulmonary artery to the proximal descending aorta. It allows most of the blood from the right ventricle to bypass the fetus's fluid-filled non-functioning lungs.
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a medical condition in which the ductus arteriosus fails to close after birth: this allows a portion of oxygenated blood from the left heart to flow back to the lungs from the aorta, which has a higher blood pressure, to the pulmonary artery, which has a lower blood pressure.
The ductus arteriosus connects at a junction point that has a low pressure zone (commonly called Bernoulli's principle) created by the inferior curvature (inner radius) of the artery. This low pressure region allows the artery to receive the blood flow from the pulmonary artery which is under a higher pressure. However, it is extremely likely ...
During fetal development, the ductus arteriosus is kept open by high levels of a vasodilator prostaglandin E2 which is made by the placenta and by the ductus arteriosus itself. At birth a bunch of things change, though—oxygen levels in the blood go up dramatically and the lungs become the main source of oxygenated blood.
As such, pulmonary blood flow is entirely dependent on shunting from the systemic circulation, typically through a patent ductus arteriosus. The pathophysiology of TOF together with pulmonary arteriosus is uniquely attributable to defects of the pulmonary arteries.
The umbilical arteries are actually the anterior division of the internal iliac arteries, and retain part of this function after birth. [3] The umbilical arteries are one of two arteries in the human body, that carry deoxygenated blood, the other being the pulmonary arteries. The pressure inside the umbilical artery is approximately 50 mmHg. [4]
The ductus arteriosus is a small, artery-like structure which allows blood to flow from the trunk of the pulmonary artery into the aorta; after birth, the blood in the pulmonary artery will flow into the lungs and the ductus arteriosus will close.