What is Truncus Arteriosus?
When a baby’s heart is developing in the womb, one large blood vessel,
the truncus arteriosus, should divide to become the two main arteries:
the aorta, and the pulmonary artery.
The aorta should carry red (oxygenated) blood from the heart to the body, and the pulmonary artery should carry blue (deoxygenated) blood to the lungs.
If the aorta and pulmonary artery do not divide, the child is born with a persistent truncus arteriosus or common arterial trunk. This one big artery has one large valve instead of there being pulmonary and aortic valves.
