A defect of the heart in which the ductus arteriosus (a channel between the pulmonary artery and the aorta in the fetus) fails to close at birth. It affects about 60 babies per 100,000. In the fetus, blood pumped by the right side of the heart flows through the ductus arteriosus and bypasses the lungs (see fetal circulation). At or shortly after birth, the ductus usually closes. In some babies this closure may fail to happen, preventing normal circulation. There are usually no symptoms unless a large amount of blood is misdirected, in which case the baby fails to gain weight, becomes short of breath on exertion, and may have frequent chest infections. Eventually, heart failure may develop.
Diagnosis is made from hearing a heart murmur, from chest X-rays, and from an ECG and echocardiography. The drug indometacin or surgery may be used to close the duct.
The blood vessel in the fetus through which blood passes from the pulmonary artery to the aorta, thereby bypassing the lungs, which do not function during intra-uterine life. (See CIRCULATORY SYSTEM OF THE BLOOD.) The ductus normally ceases to function soon after birth and within a few weeks is converted into a ?brous cord. Occasionally this obliteration does not occur: a condition known as patent ductus arteriosus. This is one of the more common congenital defects of the heart, and one which responds particularly well to surgical treatment. Closure of the duct can also be achieved in some cases by the administration of indomethacin. (See HEART, DISEASES OF.)... ductus arteriosus
In the medical context, a term meaning open – for example, patent DUCTUS ARTERIOSUS. The term is also used for proprietary MEDICINES which, because of the research and cost involved in producing many of them, are protected by a patent. This means that without an agreement, no company or organisation other than the patent-holder can produce the substance.... patent
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