Complete transposition of the great arteries (TOGA) occurs when the aorta, which normally comes off the left ventricle and pumps red blood to the body, arises from the right ventricle(1) and pumps blue blood returning from the body back to the body bypassing the lungs completely.
A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a defect or hole(1) in the wall that separates the lower two chambers of the heart. These chambers are called the ventricles (2) and the wall separating them is called the ventricular septum. A child can have single or multiple ventricular septal defects. Ventricular septal defects also occur in association with more complex heart defects such as Tetralogy of Fallot and transposition of the great vessels. The information on this page applies to patients with a ventricular septal defect and an otherwise normal heart.