What is Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV) ?
Some of the defects I have described are “simple”, some are a little “complex” – but DORV is something else.
It is a common term that actually describes a wide spectrum of heart disease, ranging from something similar to a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), through Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) to Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA).
It is sometimes like one, at other times like another, and occasionally a mixture of some of them. So if at first you are baffled, don’t worry. I too was, and figured it out only after a long hard struggle.
What is Double Outlet Right Ventricle ?
Normally, a ventricle has just ONE outlet. For the left ventricle, this is the aorta. For the right ventricle it is the pulmonary artery. In DORV, both of these “outlet” blood vessels – aorta and pulmonary artery – arise from the RIGHT VENTRICLE, either totally or to a great extent.