Total Anomalous Pulmonary Vein Return, cardiac (c-TAPVR)

cardiac Total Anomalous Pulmonary Vein Return (c-TAPVR) [cardiac=of the heart, anomalous=not normal, pulmonary=having to do with the lungs, vein=blood vessel, return=come back] – a structural defect where the pulmonary veins (which normally carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs back to the left atrium of the heart) do not connect individually to the left atrium. Instead, the pulmonary veins connect to each other behind the heart and then connect to the atrium as one blood vessel.