Read her story as well as other stories from families affected by tetralogy of Fallot »

1 In other words, about 1 in every 2518 babies born in the United States each year are born with tetratology of Fallot.Īsha was born with tetralogy of Fallot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year about 1,660 babies in the United States are born with tetralogy of Fallot. Learn more about how the heart works » Occurrence

Dizziness, fainting, or seizures, because of the low oxygen levels in their blood.

A higher risk of having irregular heart rhythms, called arrhythmia.A higher risk of getting an infection of the layers of the heart, called endocarditis.Infants with tetralogy of Fallot or other conditions causing cyanosis can have problems including: At birth, infants might not have blue-looking skin, but later might develop sudden episodes of bluish skin during crying or feeding. Infants with tetralogy of Fallot can have a bluish-looking skin color―called cyanosis―because their blood doesn’t carry enough oxygen. This heart defect can cause oxygen in the blood that flows to the rest of the body to be reduced. This also is called ventricular hypertrophy.īecause a baby with tetralogy of Fallot may need surgery or other procedures soon after birth, this birth defect is considered a critical congenital heart defect. The muscular wall of the lower right chamber of the heart (right ventricle) is thicker than normal.In this defect, the aortic valve sits directly on top of the ventricular septal defect. The aortic valve, which opens to the aorta, is enlarged and seems to open from both ventricles, rather than from the left ventricle only, as in a normal heart.This condition also is called pulmonary stenosis. A narrowing of the pulmonary valve and main pulmonary artery.

This condition also is called a ventricular septal defect. A hole in the wall between the two lower chambers―or ventricles―of the heart.Tetralogy of Fallot is made up of the following four defects of the heart and its blood vessels: It happens when a baby’s heart does not form correctly as the baby grows and develops in the mother’s womb during pregnancy. Tetralogy of Fallot (pronounced te-tral-uh-jee of Fal-oh) is a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.

Fallout hole in the wall