Pathophysiologic consequences of cyanotic congenital heart disease

Cyanotic congenital heart diseases will necessarily cause many pathophysiologic changes; many of these are compensatory mechanisms designed to improve the hypoxic state and others are complications of the altered physiology or abnormal anatomy. A thorough understanding of the pathophysiologic consequences of cyanotic congenital heart disease (CCHD) will help in providing appropriate management The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the pathophysiology of most of these consequences of CCHD (Table ) and to outline an approach to the management of these entities.