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| {{SI}}
| | #Redirect[[Right-to-left shunt]] |
| {{WikiDoc Cardiology Network Infobox}}
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| == Overview ==
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| A '''right-to-left shunt''' is a [[heart|cardiac]] [[cardiac shunt|shunt]] which allows, or is designed to cause, [[blood]] to [[circulatory system|flow]] from the [[right heart]] to the [[left heart]]. This terminology is used both for the abnormal state in humans and for normal physiological shunts in [[reptile]]s.
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| A right-to-left shunt occurs when:
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| #there is an opening or passage between the [[atria]], [[Ventricle (heart)|ventricle]]s, and/or [[great vessels]]; ''and'', | |
| #right heart [[blood pressure|pressure]] is higher than left heart pressure and/or the shunt has a one-way [[heart valve|valvular]] opening.
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| 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. The four defects include:
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| #[[Pulmonary stenosis]] (narrowing of the [[pulmonary valve]] and outflow tract, obstructing blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery)
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| #[[Ventricular septal defect]] (defect in the ventricular septum, which divides the left and right ventricles of the heart)
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| #[[Overriding aorta]] (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)
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| #Right [[ventricular hypertrophy]] (thickening of the muscular walls of the right ventricle)
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| A right to left shunt frequently causes [[hypoxemia]].
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| == Acknowledgements ==
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| The content on this page was first contributed by: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D.
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| {{Congenital malformations and deformations of circulatory system}}
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| {{SIB}}
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| [[Category:DiseaseState]]
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| [[Category:Cardiology]]
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| [[Category:Pulmonology]]
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