The ductus arteriosus is a vital in utero vascular connection between the aorta and pulmonary artery that allows right ventricular output to bypass the nonventilated fetal lungs. Postnatal closure of the ductus arteriosus is an important step in normal cardiopulmonary transition. Failure of ductal closure results in patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), which occurs in approximately 2 to 8 per 10,000 term infants and constitutes 5% to 7% of all congenital heart defects (summary by Hajj and Dagle, 2012).
For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of isolated PDA, see PDA1 (607411). [from
OMIM]