Where is the ductus arteriosus found?

Question

Where is the ductus arteriosus found?

Answer 1

Not quite in the heart.  In the fetus, it connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta, and the point of this is to act as a shunt to bypass the lungs (because in a fetus, oxygen in the blood comes from the mother's lungs and across the placenta, not from the baby's lungs).

After the baby is born, physiologic changes are supposed to close the ductus.  Occasionally this doesn't happen and then what you have is a "patent ductus arteriosus."  It can usually be treated medically.

Answer 2

the ductus arteriosus is an embryological structure. in the fetus, its a blood vessel that connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta and directs blood away from the lungs. since the fetus doesn't actually breath, it would be a waste to have blood flow there.

after the baby is born and takes its first breath, blood flows to the lungs. since the shunt is no longer needed, it closes over the first couple of days of life. in the adult, it is known as the ligamentum arteriosum.

Answer 3

The ductus arteriosis is found where the aorta on its downward arch crosses over the left pulmonary artery.

It is like the left pulmonary artey pours into the descending aorta.

See: http://www.healthcentral.com/ency/408/Pr...

Answer 4

In the heart.