Pediatric Heart disease: Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) What is tetralogy of Fallot? Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a cardiac anomaly that refers to a combination of four related heart defects that commonly occur together. The four defects include: 1. Pulmonary stenosis (narrowing of the pulmonary valve and outflow tract or area below the valve, that creates an obstruction (blockage) of blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery 2. Ventricular septal defect (VSD) 3. Overriding aorta (the aortic valve …showed first 75 words of 788 total…

…showed last 75 words of 788 total…detection of a loud murmur when the infant is examined. Once congenital heart disease is suspected, echocardiography can rapidly and accurately demonstrate the four related defects characteristic of tetralogy of Fallot. Cardiac catheterization is occasionally required to evaluate the size and distribution of the pulmonary arteries and to clarify the branching patterns of the coronary arteries. Catheterization can also demonstrate whether patients have pulmonary blood flow supplied by an abnormal blood vessel from the aorta.