Cajun Heart Home

This is a picture of my Dad's camp in Garyville, Louisiana. It's the heart of the swamp and a place close to my heart. 

Lung branching with an absent pulmonary valve

This is so amazing and terrifying to see at the same time. Because I didn't have a pulmonary valve when I was born, my lungs seem to have change to accommodate my sick heart. 

I got this information from.  http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/899249-overview

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) with absent pulmonary valve is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by features of tetralogy of Fallot with either rudimentary ridges or the complete absence of pulmonic valve tissue. Congenital absence of the pulmonary valve with an intact ventricular septum occurs, but this is much less common. The absence of mature pulmonary valve tissue leads to severe pulmonary regurgitation, which is often associated with massive dilatation of the pulmonary arteries and which is characteristic of this syndrome.

An interesting feature of this anomaly is that the ductus arteriosus is frequently absent. However, when the pulmonary valve is absent and the ventricular septum is intact, a normal ductus arteriosus is also generally present. 

The image above compares the pulmonary artery branching between healthy patients and those with absent pulmonary valve syndrome.