Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) is a rare heart condition that's present at birth. That means it's a congenital heart defect. You also may hear this called congenital heart disease.
In this heart condition, blood vessels that return blood from the lungs to the heart, called the pulmonary veins, attach to the wrong place in the heart.
In a typical heart, oxygen-rich blood flows from the lungs to the upper left heart chamber, called the left atrium. Blood then goes to the rest of the body.
In TAPVR, where the veins connect is changed. Instead of flowing through the left atrium, blood flows through the upper right heart chamber, called the right atrium. This change in blood flow causes the oxygen-rich blood from the pulmonary veins to mix with oxygen-poor blood that also flows into the right atrium. As a result, blood flowing to the body doesn't have enough oxygen.
Another name for this condition is total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC). The names TAPVR and TAPVC refer to the same congenital heart defect. Both terms are used and widely accepted.
TAPVR is different from partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR). In PAPVR, only some of the pulmonary veins attach to the wrong place in the heart. Some veins are not affected.