Dr Ira Shah
Consultant Pediatrician
Editor - Pediatric Oncall

What is ventricular septal defect?
The heart consists of 4 chambers, right atrium that receives oxygen poor blood from the body, right ventricle that receives blood from right atrium and pumps it through the pulmonary artery to the lungs to get oxygen; left atrium that receives oxygen rich blood from the lungs and left ventricle that receives blood from left atrium and then pumps it through the aorta to the rest of the body. In ventricular septal defect, there is a hole between the two ventricles that lets blood pass from the left ventricle to the right ventricle. Thus, less amount of blood flows into the aorta and into the body. Extra amount of blood goes into the lungs and heart has to pump extra to accommodate that extra blood that comes to the left atrium and to maintain regular blood supply to rest of the body.