Cyanotic heart defect

A cyanotic heart defect is a congenital heart defect. These defects account for about 25% of all congenital heart defects. The patient appears blue, or cyanotic, due to deoxygenated blood in the systemic circulation. This occurs due to either a right to left or a bidirectional shunt, allowing significant proportions of the blood to bypass the pulmonary vascular bed.

Defects in this group include hypoplastic left heart syndrome,tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great arteries, tricuspid atresia, pulmonary atresia, and persistent truncus arteriosus.