Complete Atrioventricular Canal Defect

This is a brief description of Nathan's heart condition. I will not be going into too much detail or list possible complications, it's just too scary.

The complete form of A-V Canal is the most serious. There is a very large hollow hole between the four chambers. As the heart pumps, blood is ejected everywhere, in no specific direction. There is no differentiation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. It is all mixed, in one large chamber, being pumped everywhere. Try to visualize a heart with complete A-V Canal as a hollow ball. If you put oxygenated blood in on one side, and nonoxygenated blood on another side, and then squeeze it, there is no way to keep the blood seperate. All of the blood will mix, and in the heart there in no way to send nonoxygenated blood to the lungs and oxygenated blood to the body. The mixed blood that is sent to the lungs is abnormally high in oxygen, and the blood going to the body is abnormally low in oxygen.

The two valves that normally seperate the upper atria from the lower ventricles are deformed too. Because there is no septum in the center of the heart for the valves to "anchor" onto, the valves fuse and form one common valve. This complicates the blood flow even more. Blood flow through the heart is very specific. In the case of A-V Canal, there is pandemonium and chaos in the direction of the blood flow. To prevent complications with the lungs surgery is performed before the child's first birthday.