Double Outlet Ring Ventricle (DORV)

Double outlet right ventricle is one of the complex types of heart defects. Normally, the right ventricle of the heart pumps blood only to the lungs via the large blood carrying tube called the pulmonary artery. The left ventricle on the other hand, normally pumps blood only to the whole body, via the large blood carrying tube called the aorta. In DORV, both the main blood tubes that come out of the heart are from the pumping chamber on the right - the right ventricle. A Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) is also a part of this complex malformation. 

 

What type of problems this complex defect can cause to the baby depends largely on whether there is narrowing in the pathway of blood flow to the lungs. If so, the baby will have bluish color from low oxygen levels. If there is no obstruction for blood flowing to the lungs, the baby will develop features of heart failure, like a large VSD.

 

All babies with DORV require open heart surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass to fix the abnormality. The VSD is closed and other corrections are done, such that the red blood goes to the aorta and the blue blood to the lungs. If there is obstruction in the blood flow pathway to lungs, it is also corrected during surgery. Some types of DORVs are very complicated and require complex types of open heart surgery.