What is Tetralogy of Fallot?
• With TOF, oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle may flow through the VSD and mix with oxygen-rich blood in the left ventricle. This is called a right-to-left shunt. The mixed blood (blood with some oxygen) is then pumped through the aorta to the body. Because this blood contains less oxygen than normal, it causes your child’s skin, lips, and nails to appear blue. This condition is called cyanosis. Cyanosis worsens if there is decreased blood flow to the lungs caused by severe PS. • A child with TOF may have sudden episodes (tetralogy or “tet” spells) in which there is severely decreased blood flow to the lungs. During a tet spell, your child may become irritable, cry, or turn blue. He or she may even faint or have a seizure.
Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital (kon-JEN-i-tal) heart defect (a problem with the heart’s structure that’s present at birth). Congenital heart defects change the normal flow of blood through the heart. This rare and complex heart defect occurs in about 5 out every 10,000 babies. It affects boys and girls equally.
Tetralogy of Fallot / TOF is a cardiac anomaly that refers to a combination of four related heart defects that commonly occur together. The four defects include: • Pulmonary stenosis (narrowing of the pulmonary valve and outflow tract or area below the valve, that creates an obstruction (blockage) of blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery • Ventricular septal defect / VSD • Overriding aorta (the aortic valve is enlarged and appears to arise from both the left and right ventricles instead of the left ventricle as occurs in normal hearts) • Right ventricular hypertrophy (thickening of the muscular walls of the right ventricle, which occurs because the right ventricle is pumping at high pressure) A small percentage of children with tetralogy of Fallot may also have additional ventricular septal defects, an atrial septal defect / ASD or abnormalities in the branching pattern of their coronary arteries. Some patients with tetralogy of Fallot have complete obstruction to
Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a group of four congenital heart defects necessitating treatment during the first few months of life because they cause cyanosis, blueness resulting from the body receiving oxygen-poor blood. Tetralogy of Fallot is the most common combination heart defect resulting in cyanosis. One case is present in about every 2000-3000 births. Two of the four defects present in Tetralogy of Fallot create the greatest issue for the newborn. These are large ventricular septal defects and significant pulmonary stenosis. In some cases, TOF presents with pulmonary atresia, which generally requires immediate surgical attention after a child is born because no blood can pass through the pulmonary valve to get necessary oxygen from the lungs. Children born with this variant of Tetralogy of Fallot tend to go into heart failure soon after birth. Doctors can delay this failure through the intravenous administration of Prostaglandin E, a medication that delays the small opening in t
