Where does anatomic shunt exist?
Introduction: The fetal circulation starts when umbilical vein carrying oxygenated blood flow towards the liver by passing through a shunt called ductus venosus and flow into the heart through inferior vena cava to the right atrium. Between the right atrium and left atrium, there is a shunt called foramen ovale which allows blood to flow directly from the right atrium to the left atrium. Some of the blood will flow to the right ventricles and pass to the pulmonary trunk. The pulmonary trunk is divided into two pulmonary arteries, one for left lung and one for right lung, a small amount of blood enters into the lung. As the lung is not functioning, most of the blood bypasses it and flow through the ductuc arteriousus and pass into the aorta where blood will be supplied to systemic circulation. The deoxygenated blood from the body will be carried by the umbilical arteries to the placenta where it will be converted into oxygenated blood.
Meaning of shunt in the fetal circulation: A shunt is an abnormal opening of small hole where body fluids and blood can pass through from one part of the body organ to another organ of the body. Because of the formation of shunt in fetal circulation, there is mixing of oxygenated blood and deoxygenated blood the the fetal heart.
Meaning of anatomic shunt: Anatomic shunt can be defined as when blood in the heart does not pass into the pulmonary capillaries for exchange of deoxygenated to oxygenated blood.
Capillary can be defined as when blood from the right and left side of the heart bypasses the pulmonary capillaries for exchange of deoxygenated to oxygenated blood.
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