What is a Fontan?
So Monday was clearly Fontan day. Just in case you’re wondering why these surgeries are more complex and take so much longer….here is a brief summary of Fontan….
Most people know that the heart has four chambers; two atrium and two ventricles which work together to move blood the proper direction for circulation, right? But some congenital heart defects, like the ones Marah and Moh’d have, leave them with one 3 chambers – missing one ventricle of the heart! So to correct the problem, the ASD is closed and the right atrium is connected directly to the pulmonary artery. Blood then enters the right atrium and passes directly to the pulmonary artery and the lungs completely bypassing the ventricle. In patients with these unfortunate, unusual
defects like tricuspid atresia, the blood will flow passively, with the
pumping of the ventricle into the lungs.
