Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 most common cause of right-to-left shunt is the Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital cardiac anomaly characterized by four co-existing heart defects. Pulmonary stenosis (narrowing of the pulmonary valve and outflow tract, obstructing blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery)
Secondly, the pulmonary shunt is caused by zero or low V/Q ratio due to insufficient ventilation and excess perfusion. Improper ventilation lowers blood oxygenation and oxygen supply to body tissues. Although 100% oxygen is inspired, a pulmonary shunt prevents oxygen from being delivered to the alveoli and blood capillaries.
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 ...
A cardiac shunt is when blood follows a pattern that deviates from the systemic circulation, i.e., from the body to the right atrium, down to the right ventricle, to the lungs, from the lungs to the left atrium, down to the left ventricle and then out of the heart back to the systemic circulation.
Physiological shunts, occur due to the effect of gravity. The highest concentration of blood in the pulmonary circulation occurs in the bases of the pulmonary tree compared to the highest pressure of gas in the apexes of the lungs. Alveoli may not be ventilated in shallow breathing. Shunting may also occur in disease states:
Platypnea–orthodeoxia syndrome is a rare medical condition in which a person has shortness of breath and low oxygen saturations when upright (platypnea and orthodeoxia), but no symptoms when lying down. It can be caused by ventilation-perfusion mismatch, intracardiac shunting, or pulmonary shunting. In some cases, the cause is multifactorial ...
Diagnosis A cyanotic heart defect is any congenital heart defect (CHD) that occurs due to deoxygenated blood bypassing the lungs and entering the systemic circulation , or a mixture of oxygenated and unoxygenated blood entering the systemic circulation.