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Important
General DiscussionTruncus arteriosus is a rare type of heart disease that is present at birth (congenital) in which there is a single main blood vessel, rather than the normal two, carrying blood away from the heart. Instead of having a separate pulmonary artery, to carry blood to the lungs, and aorta, to carry blood to the rest of the body, a baby with truncus arteriosus has just one blood vessel leaving the heart which then branches into other blood vessels. Blood from both ventricles of the heart is mixed, resulting in a situation in which some oxygen-rich blood travels needlessly back to the lungs and some oxygen-poor blood travels to the rest of the body. Babies with this condition may have a bluish tint (cyanosis) to their skin, lips, and fingernails. In most cases, truncus arteriosus occurs in conjunction with a missing upper portion of the wall between the ventricles of the heart (ventricular septal defect). Supporting OrganizationsAdult Congenital Heart Association
American Heart Association
Genetic and Rare Diseases (GARD) Information Center
NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
For a Complete ReportThis is an abstract of a report from the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). For a full-text version of this report, go to www.rarediseases.org and click on Rare Disease Database under "Rare Disease Information".
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