Overview
Introduction
A newborn with DORV may look like an infant with a large ventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, or transposition of the great arteries.
A newborn with DORV may look like an infant with a large ventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, or transposition of the great arteries. The name identifies the connection—both great arteries arise predominantly from the morphologic right ventricle—but it does not predict the bedside presentation by itself. The decisive questions are where the ventricular septal defect sits in relation to the aorta and pulmonary artery, and whether either outflow tract is narrowed. Those relationships determine whether blood is preferentially sent to the lungs, whether systemic oxygen content is critically low, or whether circulation depends on a patent ductus arteriosus. This is why two infants with DORV can require very different immediate interventions.