What Are The Symptoms And Complications Of Transposition Of The Great Arteries?

Hypoxia

Hypoxia is a dangerous complication of TGA where the brain becomes deprived of its supply of oxygen. While hypoxia can be caused by a number of different factors that stop oxygen from reaching the brain, hypoxia in transposition of the great arteries occurs because the blood has little to no oxygen in it. Most individuals affected by this condition will exhibit chronic hypoxia, which causes cumulative damage to the tissues of the brain, liver, and heart. Each type of cell around the body has a preset amount of time it can go without sufficient oxygen supply before cell apoptosis or cellular death occurs. Each type of tissue around the body has different thresholds and characteristics that determine the amount of cellular damage from hypoxia that can or cannot be repaired. When enough of the tissue that makes up an organ becomes non-functional or dies as a result of hypoxia, the organ as a whole will begin to shut down. Even if the body can repair such tissue damage, it often cannot repair it quick enough to keep the organ from failing. Surgery to move the two major arteries to their correct places in the heart can help reduce future damage to the brain and other organs from hypoxia.