Part of this blood will proceed to the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve and the rest will cross the atrial communication that all children are born with to go to the left atrium and consequently to the left ventricle and out to the body. The well oxygenated blood returning from the pulmonary veins can not be delivered directly to the body as it normally does. Lung congestion and heart failure start few days to weeks after birth. This may cause the child to feed poorly and grow inadequately. Untreated, bluish discoloration of the skin will progress and damage to the blood vessels of the lungs may eventually become irreversible.
Surgical repair is necessary for survival.
The pulmonary veins are reconnected to the left atrium and the communication between the two atria is closed. This is performed within the first weeks after the child's birth. Complications Surgical results are typically very good and children lead thereafter normal lives. However, occasionally the pulmonary veins are small and there may be obstruction to their entrance into the left atrium causing high blood pressure in the lungs.