8-838.k2:

A catheter has been used to implant a small tube into an additional blood vessel between your aorta and your lungs.

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. You have one or more additional blood vessels that take oxygen-rich blood from the aorta back to the lungs.

A catheter is a thin tube. This tube is inserted into a blood vessel in the groin or arm, and pushed further in. Various instruments can be pushed at the front of the tube. X-ray images are taken during the treatment. These show clearly whether the tip of the catheter is in the right place.

When blood vessels narrow, little tubes can be used to keep them open. The treatment involved using a special little tube that consists of a metal mesh and which can be expanded during the course of the patient’s life.