The ductus arteriosus is a muscular artery connecting the pulmonary artery and the aorta during fetal life, shunting blood away from the lungs. It normally occludes shortly after birth. Failure of ductal closure results in PDA, one of the most common congenital heart defects, affecting 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 5,000 full-term infants and constituting 5% to 7% of all congenital heart defects (summary by Mani et al., 2005). PDA can be an isolated anomaly or occur in association with other congenital anomalies (summary by Khetyar et al., 2008).
For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of isolated PDA, see PDA1 (607411). [from
OMIM]