Transposition of Great Arteries (TGA): Treatment, Causes & Symptoms

What is Transposition of Great Arteries?

Transposition of great arteries is regarded as a congenital birth defect in which the two main vessels that carry blood from the heart are transposed. The transposition of great arteries paves way for a situation where the blood with a low amount of oxygen courses through right atrium and right ventricle and is pumped out to aorta and the body, while the blood rich in oxygen returns from the lungs and courses through the left atrium and ventricle and is then sent back to the lungs through the pulmonary artery.

Without an adequate supply of oxygen-rich blood, the body can't function properly and the child faces serious complications or death without treatment.

Symptoms

These symptoms may include:

Cyanosis (discolouration of skin).
Fingers’ clubbing.
Improper feeding.
Extreme breathlessness.
Rapid breathing.
Congestive heart failure.

Causes

The causes of this disease could be:

Being over the age of 40.
Fatal growth in the heart of the baby.
Poor nutrition.
Excess alcoholism.
Diabetes or any other viral illness at the time of pregnancy.

Risks

Several factors that may increase the risk of this disease are:

Viral illness in the mother during pregnancy.
Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.
Age of mother (older than 40 years).
Poorly controlled diabetes in the mother.
Poor diet and unbalanced diet during pregnancy.
Down syndrome in the baby.

Prevention

In the most cases, the occurrence of this disease can't be prevented, but there are certain things one should take care of:

Talk to genetic counsellor in case of a family history of heart defects.
Consult with a cardiologist before getting pregnant.
Take all the immunisations before pregnancy.
Start taking multivitamin after consulting with doctors.

How is it diagnosed?

At Medanta, the following technologies are used to find the existence of the disease:
...

X-ray
Electrocardiogram
Echocardiogram
Cardiac catheterization

How is it treated?

At Medanta, our doctors may employ several methods to treat the disease including the following:

Medication
The medicine prostaglandin will help leave the ductus arteriosus exposed, which will give way to the mixing of both oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood.
Arterial switch
This procedure is one of the most often used methods. In this procedure, the aorta is positioned towards the right ventricle, and the pulmonary artery towards the left ventricle. All the coronary arteries are also positioned from the aorta so that they carry oxygen rich blood to the heart. All other defects that are present shall also be closed.
Atrial switch
In this test, a tunnel is created between the two atria, forcing the oxygen rich blood towards the aorta and right ventricle. Thereafter, the right ventricle shall pump blood to the whole body rather than just the lungs. This procedure is only practised, if there are many complications.

When do I contact the doctor?

The disease is often detected at the time of birth or the first week of the life of the baby. You should seek immediate medical help, in case you start to notice the signs such as discolouration of the baby’s skin, extreme breathlessness, rapid breathing, or finger clubbing.

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