Simple D-Transposition of the great arteries (TGA)

A heart in which the two main arteries carrying blood away from the heart are reversed.

A normal blood pattern carries blood in a cycle: body-heart-lungs-heart-body.

When a d-transposition occurs, the blood pathway is impaired because the two arteries are connecting to the wrong chambers in the heart.

This means that the blood flow cycle is stuck in either:

• body–heart –body (without being routed to the lungs for oxygen) or
• lungs–heart–lungs (without delivering oxygen to the body)

Without surgery, the only way to survive this condition temporarily is to have leakages that allow some oxygen-rich blood to cross into the oxygen-poor blood for delivery to the body. A hospital facility can also catheterize a patient until corrective surgery can be performed.