RGUHS_NSG Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Superior Vena Cava, Ductus Arteriosus, Ductus Venosus
Document Summary
The purpose of these shunts is to bypass certain body parts--in particular, the lungs and liver--that are not fully developed while the fetus is still in the womb. The enriched blood flows through the umbilical cord to the liver and splits into three branches. The blood then reaches the inferior vena cava, a major vein connected to the heart. Most of this blood is sent through the ductus venosus, also a shunt that passes highly oxygenated blood through the liver to the inferior vena cava and then to the right atrium of the heart. A small amount of this blood goes directly to the liver to give it the oxygen and nutrients it needs: waste products from the fetal blood are transferred back across the placenta to the mother"s blood. Inside the fetal heart: blood enters the right atrium, the chamber on the upper right side of the heart.