Which condition is characterized by improper connection of the heart and great vessels resulting in insufficient oxygenation?

Transposition of the Great Vessels is a congenital heart defect where the main arteries leaving the heart are reversed. This condition results in two separate blood circuits: the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit. As a result, deoxygenated blood returns to the body without passing through the lungs to get oxygenated, while oxygenated blood gets sent back to the lungs instead of the body. The lack of proper connection between the heart and the great vessels leads to insufficient oxygenation of the body, as there is no mixing of oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood. This significant physiological disturbance can have severe implications, necessitating early diagnosis and often surgical intervention.

Other conditions, while also affecting heart function, do not specifically lead to this critical misconnection of the blood vessels and therefore do not demonstrate the same level of inadequate oxygenation caused by transposition of the great vessels. Conditions like atrial septal defect, coarctation of the aorta, and ventricular septal defect involve structural issues within the heart itself rather than a reversal of the major arteries.