Etienne-Louis Arthur Fallot and his tetralogy: a new translation of Fallot's summary and a modern reassessment of this anomaly.

ABSTRACT

As this translation of Fallot's conclusions makes clear, he emphasized the clinical diagnostic usefulness of his findings because of the high frequency of this malformation in cyanotic congenital heart disease. Terming this anomaly "tetralogy," he clearly and simply delineated its four cardinal features. He stated that cyanosis was not due to a patent foramen ovale. He attributed the morphogenesis of the tetralogy to an intrauterine pathologic process at the level of the pulmonary valve leaflets and the subpulmonary infundibulum. The tetralogy and Fallot's contribution are reassessed in the light of present understanding.