5-359.12:

You have had a heart operation for a congenital deformity.

The heart pumps blood through the body. Inside the heart are 4 chambers. There are 2 heart atria and 2 ventricles. Both heart atria and both ventricles are separated from each other by a partition.

Major, important blood vessels branch out of the heart. The main artery (aorta), originating from the left lower chamber (ventricle) of the heart, supplies the whole body with oxygen-rich blood. The right ventricle pumps oxygen-poor blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where the blood is then enriched with oxygen.

Your heart did not develop properly before you were born. As a result, your ventricles are transposed. This means that your right atrium is connected to your left ventricle. The left atrium is connected to the right ventricle. In a normal heart, the atrium and the ventricle of the same side are connected to one another. In addition, your aorta and your pulmonary artery are transposed in your heart. This means that your aorta was coming from your right ventricle and your pulmonary artery was coming from your left ventricle. Because your ventricles and the great blood vessels from your heart are transposed, oxygen-poor blood is getting to the lungs and oxygen-rich blood to the body, as is normal. However, this heart deformity is putting a lot of strain on your right ventricle. The operation involved changing the blood flow in the atria of the heart. The operation also involved connecting your aorta to your left ventricle. At the same time, your pulmonary artery was connected to your right ventricle. After the operation, your right ventricle is now pumping the blood to your lungs as it does in a heart that has developed normally. This has relieved the strain on your right ventricle.