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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.
A labelled diagram showing a patent ductus arteriosus in relation to the great arteries and the heart. Items portrayed in this file ...
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.
If the ductus arteriosus fails to close after birth, a condition known as patent ductus arteriosus can develop. This is a fairly common birth defect. This is a fairly common birth defect. Sufferers may have operations that leave them with no ligamentum arteriosum.
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.
Because the aorta has lower pressure than the pulmonary artery, most of the blood flows across the ductus arteriosus away from the lungs. [1] Once the blood goes through the ductus arteriosus, it mixes with the blood from the aorta. This results in mixed blood oxygen saturation that supplies most of the structures of the lower half of the fetal ...
Some acquired shunts are modifications of congenital ones: a balloon septostomy can enlarge a foramen ovale (if performed on a newborn), PFO or ASD; or prostaglandin can be administered to a newborn to prevent the ductus arteriosus from closing. Biological tissues may also be used to construct artificial passages.
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 ( siphon ) the blood flow from the pulmonary artery which is under a higher pressure.