Tetralogy Of Fallot

Question: In referece to Tetralogy of Fallot, what does aortic overriding mean? I'm doing an assignment on Tetralogy of Fallot and I need to explain the anatomy of this disease. Could someone please explain to me what aortic overriding mean? Also, I'm not a medical proffessional (this is just my first anatomy course) so explain in plain English would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Answer: Normally aorta is connected to the left ventricle and pulmonary artery to the right ventricle. In Tetralogy of Fallot, there is defect in the interventriclar septum (partition). The aorta over rides the septal defect so that half of aorta is connected to right ventricle and half to left ventricle. So it receives both oxygenated blood and deoxygenated blood (from right ventricle). Hence the babies born with Tetralogy have blue colour due to deoxygenated blood in their general (systemic) circulation.

Question: What is a normal pulse-ox reading for a baby with Tetralogy of Fallot? I'm looking for a chart with readings for a cyanotic baby, specifically with Tetralogy of Fallot. How low is a pulse ox considered acceptable? What reading is too low and needs medical treatment? Thanks. I should add that this is for a story I'm writing and I would like to have accurate details. It is not a real life situation in which I can refer to a doctor for answers. Thanks. Thank you so much for the help. Both pre and post operatively. Thank you very, very much!

Answer: Those babies are blue. I haven't seen one since residency, and if I did, I'd run the other way. Here's a value I found: 85% +/- 6%, so anywhere from 79-91%. That's for pre-op kids. During a "tet spell" it can go much lower, of course, into the 50's and 60's. Phenylephrine - stat! Anything in the low 80's should probably be treated. It would depend somewhat on the baby's history, and what he/she runs normally. If he usually runs sats of 92%, you'd be concerned in the upper 80's. If upper 80's is as good as it gets, then there's no need to treat at that point.

Question: Can someone with tetralogy of fallot join the army? Is the heart condition tetralogy of fallot to severe to do certain things in the army?

Answer: I believe tetralogy of fallot is a DQ from military service because some of its symptoms can be found in the list of DQs related to the heart. The list is here: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningth… Particularly, ToF can cause Pulmonary Valve Stenosis and that is on the list of Disqualifying factors; it also causes hypoxemia and hypertrophy which can be dangerous, especially when you're doing strenuous physical activity. If you do receive an approved waiver for the condition, or if you can enlist without needing a waiver, you certainly will not be able to do anything in the Army Aviation field (http://usmilitary.about.com/library/mili… ) Good luck!

Question: Has anyone know or had a child or children with Tetralogy Of Fallot?My baby has tof and hes operation ? Has anyone know or had a child or children with Tetralogy Of Fallot? My baby has tof and hes operation is going to be on Dic 2nd ... What happend after surgery? or can someone talk to me i know everything about this but I just want to read some history Sorry about my english thanks... My baby is 5 months old

Answer: I was born with Tetralogy of Fallot and I'm sure that I'm old enough to be your father. The surgical success rate is MUCH better today that it was over forty years ago when I had my surgery. In the US, over 90% of the children born today with a heart defect grow up to be adults. The success rate for Tetralogy of Fallot is higher than that, I'm sure, since ToF is the most common complex heart defect. One thing to remember for the future is that your child will need lifelong cardiac care. There's a growing field of adult congenital cardiology, and the American College of Cardiology just came out with care guidelines for the adult with congenital heart defects. One of the key points is that children with complex heart defects like ToF should transition from a pediatric cardiologist to an adult cardiologist as they reach adulthood. P.S. I know that you're most concerned about the short term outcome that I'm sure others will provide much better than I can, but I thought I'd provide the long term perspective.

Question: This concerns female women, with Tetralogy of Fallot? I have gotten Tetralogy of Fallot with interrupted aortic arch type B. Which was operative in 1972. I am 44 now and I started Menopause. Full meno pause. Are any of you who suffer from these disease of knowledge how effective HRT regards to these type of heart patients is? Thanks for your honest replie. I feel like grab. thanks cardio. Very helpful hint. I will do that.

Answer: Please check with your doctor whether the associated fluid retention and increased tendency for thrombosis will cause any problem for you. This will also depend on whether you have any residual problem of Tetralogy.

Question: Does Tetralogy of Fallot have anything to do with coronary artery? Since TOF is congenital, why does it realte to coronary artery? My cardiologist suggested me have a cardiac catheterization test in order to make sure of my coronary artery is ok. I’d never smoked, seldom drink. What signs dose a patient with abnormal coronary artery have?

Answer: TOF has nothing to do with your coronary arteries. But getting a cath is still a good idea. TOF consists of 4 parts ("tetralogy") 1. Ventricular Septal Defect 2. Pulmonic Stenosis 3. Overriding Aorta 4. Right Ventricular Hypertrophy. In english, what does that mean? Basically, the pulmonary artery that carries blood to your lungs is rather tight. In addition, you have a small hole between the right and left ventricle (the septal defect). Because the pulmonary artery is so tight, blood that would have gone through the artery instead gets shunted across the septal defect into the left heart, bypassing the lungs. As a result, your oxygen levels can drop because some blood that never got oxygen is going into your systemic circulation. A catheterization involves the placement of long flexible catheters into your heart. If they point the catheters into your coronary arteries and shoot dye, they can see how tight those arteries are. But, even when they don't, they can still take blood pressure measurements and oxygen measurements in the heart that let you know exactly how much blood is bypassing the lungs and going into the circulation.

Question: my baby girl has tetralogy of fallot, does anyone know of a non open heart procedure to correct the problem? our doctors here in the philippines say that only way for her is an complete correction via open heart surgery. is there another way to correct the problem?

Answer: part of tetralogy of fallot means that major vessels of the heart are transposed or are not in the correct places, if not surgically repaired, your baby's circulation will only worsen, because there is not enough blood directed to the lungs to be oxygenated to supply the growing tissues of the organs and brain.... please follow your doctor's advice soon. The mortality rate is 95% for children over the age of 10 who are not surgically repaired.

Question: Can I be pregnant with Tetralogy of Fallot? I operated it 23 years ago,and I am feeling fine.I was pregnant in this january.for 6 weeks,but the doctors told me that I can't be pregnant and I had an abortus.Now I am looking for somebody to help us,because we want to have baby again.Do you know anyone like me,with this problem?Do you know that maybe I could stay pregnant but to be in the hospital all time.THANK YOU.

Answer: That's really a question for your OB. I would guess since you were operated on that you should be ok to carry a child. The thing is when you ar pregnant your blood supply rises 50% and I don't know if someone with Tetrology could take that. I imagine with you being through an operation you should be ok.....but ask your gyno b4 getting preggo

Question: So i was born with tetralogy of the fallot and I have had 5 open heart surgeries. Any scholarships? Im just wondering if there are scholarships for people like us who have been through so much. I have checked kaiser permanente, the American Heart association, and doernbechers children hospital for scholarships, any other ideas?

Answer: There appear to be a few available at speciffic institutions, not for CHD but for chronic illness in general. The Chronic Illness Scholarship Award at DePaul http://www.snl.depaul.edu/WebMedia/Stude… More info on the online program at dePaul http://www.cfids.org/cfidslink/depaul.as… Here's another one: Rob Gothson Jr. Scholarship http://www.ncaecic.org/scholarship Good luck!

Question: Any body got a child with tetralogy of fallot? My son is six weeks old and was diagosed by his cardilogist when he was five days old. He will have surgery on 05/04/08 for the complete repair of tof. We are very optimistic that he will make a full recovery and have normal life

Answer: I'm a repaired Tet and am 53 years old. There are lots of ToFers in the Adult Congenital Heart Association (http://www.achaheart.org). My original repair was in 1960 and I went 42 years until my next heart surgery where they replaced my pulmonary valve, among other things. My advice to you is to get and keep a copy of your son's medical records... they may come in handy when he gets older. Mine sure did. I have lived a normal life, getting a BS, MS, and PhD, and have had a long technical and marketing career at a couple of large corporations and a startup. Your son has every opportunity for a long and happy life (but make sure that he sees an adult congenital cardiologist when he grows up).