Truncus Arterious Repair Cost In Saifee Hospital Mumbai

Truncus arteriosus is a congenital heart defect which is present since birth, a patient who has truncus arteriosus has one large artery which allows blood flow in and out of the heart and the babies also have a single truncal valve instead of two valves for controlling blood flow.

During gestation babies have one large blood vessels called truncus which branches out from heart as the baby develops in womb the truncus divides into pulmonary artery and aorta and when it doesn’t spilt truncus arteriosus happen. The cause of this is still unknown but many experts have told that certain gene plays an important role in this.

Truncus arteriosus is a very common disorder and it is seen mostly in 1 in 10,000 birth defects and affects both boys and girls.

Blood flows from right side of the heart through the pulmonary artery to the lungs to get oxygen and this oxygenated blood flows from left side of the heart and from aorta to rest of body.  Children with truncus arteriosus have ventricular septal defect in which a hole is present in heart which separates the ventricles or chambers off heart.

Some of the risks factor for truncus arteriosus are diabetes, excessive use of alcohol, medication, rubella or presence of some other virus.

Some of the signs of truncus arteriosus are bluish or grayish tint to skin (cyanosis), breathing problems, such as shortness of breath or rapid breathing, extreme sleepiness, heart murmur, poor feeding, rapid heart rate or weak pulse and sweating

Prenatal ultrasound is used for diagnosing pregnancy and sometimes also detects and heart defect and if ultrasound detects a problem the you have to go for fetal echocardiogram to produce images of baby’s heart.

The surgery will take three to four hours to complete under general anaesthesia.

The surgeon uses a synthetic patch positioned so it closes the ventricular septal defect (VSD) in a way that directs blood from the left ventricle to the aorta. This allows red blood to go to the organs of the body.

Two to three surgeries are needed to replace the artificial pulmonary artery with larger tubes and the heart and body grows. If the truncal valve becomes thick and leak then other artificial valve is needed.  Some people need another conduit and valve replacement procedure during adulthood.

It will take around one to two week to recover completely from surgery.

Truncus arteriosus  results in arrhythmia, heart failure, hypertrophy, pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) and stroke.

You should take precautions that your child should not participate in those activities which can cause blows on chest, after few weeks the child can participate in any activity.

Other conditions seen with truncus arteriosus are artial septal defect, interrupted aortic arch, patent ductus arteriosus.