Conditions Simulating the Tetralogy of Fallot

Abstract

Cyanosis on the basis of a right-to-left shunt at the ventricular level results from pulmonary stenosis associated with a ventricular septal defect. While the tetralogy of Fallot is the most common anatomic state underlying this functional abnormality, there are a variety of anatomic states which may yield the same functional disturbance. These may be divided into three groups depending upon the state of the major arterial vessels. In each of the first two of the three groups, there are two arterial vessels. In one group, the great vessels are in normal relationship to each other, while in the second group the great arteries are transposed. In the third group, one arterial vessel leaves the heart and, from it, branches carry blood to the lungs.