Dextrocardia, DORV, HRHS, TGA

Dextrocardia [dextro=on the right side]-the heart is reversed and in the right side of the chest (instead of the left). The lower tip of the heart also points to the right (instead of the left).

Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV) [outlet=passage for exit, ventricles=lower chambers of the heart] – both vessels (aorta & pulmonary artery) carrying blood away from the heart come out of the right ventricle. (Normally the aorta carries oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle and the pulmonary artery carries oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle).

Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome (HRHS) [hypo=under, plasia=formation or development, ventricles=lower chambers of the heart]:  the right side of the heart is underdeveloped–including the right ventricle, the pulmonary artery (which carries oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs), and the valves controlling the blood flow of the right ventricle (tricuspid valve, pulmonary valve). These valves may be narrowed (stenosis) or missing (atresia).

Pulmonary  Stenosis [pulmonary=having to do with the lungs, stenosis=narrowing of a passage, ] – a narrowing of the pulmonary artery (which carries blood from the heart to the lungs) at or near the pulmonary valve.

Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) [transposition=switch the order, great arteries=the aorta & the pulmonary artery] the positions of the great vessels are switched so that the aorta (which carries oxygen-rich blood to the body) is closer to the oxygen-poor blood AND the pulmonary artery (which carries oxygen-poor blood to the lungs) is closer to the oxygen-rich blood.  It is usually accompanied by a hole in the wall between the ventricles (ventricular septal defect or VSD).