Transposition of the great arteries
TGA is a serious congenital heart defect that must be corrected in the first weeks of life. With early surgery, the outlook is good.
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What TGA is
In transposition of the great arteries, the two main arteries leaving the heart are swapped: the aorta comes off the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery off the left. Oxygen-poor blood circulates the body while oxygen-rich blood circles the lungs.
The baby survives only if a connection between the two circulations exists — a hole or a duct — and even then the oxygen level is dangerously low. This is why the baby is blue from birth.
Why early referral matters
TGA is a surgical emergency, not an elective condition. In the first days of life a prostaglandin infusion keeps the connecting duct open, and a balloon septostomy may be done in the catheter lab to buy time.
The definitive operation — the arterial switch — reconnects the aorta to the left ventricle and the pulmonary artery to the right, restoring normal blood flow. It is best done in the first weeks of life, in a unit experienced in neonatal heart surgery.
What to send us
Photographs taken on your phone are fine. Reports in Arabic, Russian or Bengali are fine — we translate them ourselves.
Most useful
- Coronary angiogram report, and the images if you have them
- Echocardiogram report
- Recent ECG
- Discharge summary from any admission
Also helpful
- Blood tests including HbA1c and lipid profile
- Kidney function tests
- A list of your current medicines and doses
- Your age, weight and whether you smoke
Questions
Because the baby's body is circulating oxygen-poor blood. Surgery in the first weeks of life restores normal flow before the heart and lungs are damaged.
It is the corrective operation that swaps the great arteries back to their correct positions, so each ventricle pumps to the right destination.
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