The human body is a complex system consisting of constantly functioning tissues, organs, vessels. Nutrition and oxygen saturation of the systems as a whole is carried out by a network of blood vessels, classified, depending on the tasks performed, into trunk, true capillaries, resistive, shunt, and capacitive ones.
The concept of the great vessels
The main vessels are a system that includes all the major blood branches that pave the way to the departments of the human body. The name “trunk” itself speaks for itself: they are compared with highways connecting cities and contributing to their trade and economic relations.
First of all, the great vessels are the aorta and pulmonary arteries. Large branches of these vessels are also classified as trunk. They carry nutrients to the upper and lower extremities, brain, kidneys, liver, transport oxygen to the lungs.
The main vessels of the heart, represented by the aorta, lower, superior vena cava, are among the elastic vessels. Elasticity is an important property of large arteries, allowing them to stretch and contract, depending on whether the blood is pushed out by jerks or moves continuously. As an aortic vessel, it is characterized by a regular round shape with a diameter of up to 2 cm. The dimensions of the inferior vena cava vary and depend on the respiratory rate and heart rate. On average, in humans, they are in the range 1.4-2.5 cm, while stable sizes indicate the presence of heart defects, thrombosis, and a decrease in the diameter of the inferior vena cava.
Defects of the great vessels
Trunk vessels are life-supporting vessels, diseases or improper functioning of which affect human health. In the world, according to statistics, a fifth of newborns suffer from various heart defects. Among the most common, along with a defect in the ventricular septum, tetralogy of Fallot, includes TMS, or transposition of the great vessels.
With this disease, the functions of the aorta and pulmonary trunk change places, that is, the aorta originates in the right ventricle of the heart, and the pulmonary trunk, respectively, in the left. As a result, arterial blood is not enriched with oxygen, since it passes outside the lungs in a closed path. Thus, oxygen-enriched blood circulates only from the pulmonary trunk to the right atrium in the pulmonary circulation.
As a result of the fact that the body’s nutrition and respiration is carried out in a large circle, hypoxia is characteristic of all tissues and organs, which can be eliminated by surgical treatment.
Causes of TMS
It is impossible to establish the reasons for the development of a defect in a newborn. However, more likely factors include:
- infection with viral diseases during the period of gestation;
- the use of medicines and alcoholic beverages;
- woman's age (at risk - from 35 years);
- hereditary predisposition;
- irradiation of various nature and others.
It is noted that the transposition of the main vessels more often occurs in children with Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities, but experts have still not found the gene responsible for the disruption of the heart muscle.
Methods for diagnosing the disease
Pregnant women undergo ultrasound diagnostics to monitor the condition of the fetus. Ultrasound of the main vessels allows you to identify malformation in the early stages of child development. However, this procedure is only possible for experienced medical professionals, since the features of intrauterine blood supply nullify the detection of TMS - the pulmonary circle does not function in the fetus.
After birth, in the first hours on the baby’s skin there are signs of heart failure, appearing in a bluish tint of the entire skin. The lack of oxygen sends impulses to the brain, from where the response comes in the form of an increase in the volume of blood pumped by the heart. This leads to an increase in its size and contributes to the swelling of other organs. Correct the situation and give the patient a chance at life is possible only in a surgical way.
Thus, the main vessels are vital strands of the body, on the proper functioning of which the existence of man depends.