[Pathology of the blood microcirculation in congenital heart defects with a right-to-left shunt].

The alterations of the microcirculatory bed of the greater omentum in 17 children dying within the first year of life from congenital heart disease with the blood effluent from the right to the left are described. Pathological and compensatory changes are revealed in the microvessels and their functional significance is shown. The dependence of hemorheological disturbances in the microcirculatory bed (blood cell aggregation, local blood stasis, intravascular coagulation) upon the degree of heart decompensation followed by the slowing down of the circulation and increasing of the congestion in the venous system is pointed out.