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A pulmonary shunt is the passage of deoxygenated blood from the right side of the heart to the left without participation in gas exchange in the pulmonary capillaries. It is a pathological condition that results when the alveoli of parts of the lungs are perfused with blood as normal, but ventilation (the supply of air) fails to supply the perfused region.
The right ventricle hypertrophies to compensate for this pulmonary hypertension, so the right ventricular pressure becomes higher than the pressure in the left ventricle. Because of this switch in the pressure gradient, blood starts flowing right to left, forming a right-to-left shunt. As with any right-to-left shunt, there is decreased blood ...
In cardiology, a cardiac shunt is a pattern of blood flow in the heart that deviates from the normal circuit of the circulatory system.It may be described as right-left, left-right or bidirectional, or as systemic-to-pulmonary or pulmonary-to-systemic.
A traditional right-to-left shunt refers to blood passing from the right side of the heart to the left side without traveling to the capillaries of the lung for more oxygen (e.g., as seen in a patent foramen ovale). In ARDS, a lung right-to-left shunting occurs within the lungs since some blood from the right side of the heart will enter ...
Eisenmenger syndrome or Eisenmenger's syndrome is defined as the process in which a long-standing left-to-right cardiac shunt caused by a congenital heart defect (typically by a ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, or less commonly, patent ductus arteriosus) causes pulmonary hypertension [1] [2] and eventual reversal of the shunt into a cyanotic right-to-left shunt.
It is caused by structural defects of the heart such as right-to-left or bidirectional shunting, malposition of the great arteries, or any condition which increases pulmonary vascular resistance. The result may be the development of collateral circulation.
Additionally, if a paradoxical embolism is suspected in a patient, findings consistent with a congenital heart defect that may lead to right-to-left shunting can be evaluated. These include digital clubbing due to chronic hypoxemia in distal extremities or a widely-split S2, a pathological heartbeat pattern where the second heart sound has two ...
A pulmonary-to-systemic shunt is a cardiac shunt which allows, or is designed to cause, blood to flow from the pulmonary circulation to the systemic circulation. [1] [2] This occurs when: there is a passage between two or more of the great vessels; and, pulmonic pressure is higher than systemic pressure and/or the shunt has a one-way valvular ...