Question

Isabella was horrified when her newborn son Matteo became cyanotic immediately after he was born. He was whisked away; when the doctor returned, he told Isabella and her husband that their son had a congenital heart defect called TGV or transposition of the great vessels. Part A - Cyanosis To become cyanotic means to turn blue. What could cause a new born to turn blue

Answer 1

A new born baby can turn blue when there is not enough oxygen rich blood in his body

Step-by-step explanation:

TGV - Transposition of the great arteries is a defective heart condition that occurs from birth. The two great arteries are the aorta and pulmonary artery. The aorta carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body while the pulmonary artery carries oxygen deficient blood from the body to the lungs

Normally the aorta which is supposed to be connected to the left ventricle and supply oxygen rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body is transposed. Meaning that it is instead connected to the right ventricle and carries oxygen-deficient blood to the body.

Conversely in TGV situation, the pulmonary artery is connected to the left ventricle (instead of the right ventricle) and carries oxygen rich (instead of oxygen-deficient) blood to the lungs.

The result is that the new born baby body has oxygen deficient blood and hence begins to burn blue (cyanotic)