Imagine if your heart was on the right side of your body
Before reading, it is best to learn the anatomy and blood flow of the heart.
Brief Intro — statistics
As we all know, our heart points to the left side of our chest. However, 1 in 12,000 people experiences Dextrocardia, a condition where the heart points towards the right side of the chest. Mathematically speaking, that’s almost 600,000 million people around the world!
In the picture, the figure on the left represents the heart’s normal position. Dextrocardia is actually part of another disease known as Situs Inversus. Although it sounds like a Harry Potter spell, it flips not only your heart but all other organs as well. For example, your liver will be on the left side of your body rather than the right side.
Causes and Effects
Situs Inversus, and dextrocardia, is caused by an autosomal recessive genetic condition. This means that in order to get this disorder, you have to inherit two mutated genes, one from each parent. There’s no other way you can get this disease other than from birth.
The most common effects of dextrocardia are:
- The aorta connects to the right ventricle rather than the left
- The walls of the 4 chambers are poorly formed
- The pulmonary valve does not form properly
- There is only one ventricle present rather than two
- The aorta and pulmonary artery are switched
Symptoms
Those with dextrocardia can have trouble with cardiac dysfunction and a lung condition known as Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD). Cilia, which are tiny hairs responsible for filtering the air that goes into your lungs, stop functioning, and as a result, mucus and bacteria fill up your lungs. This condition is called Kartagener’s syndrome. Constant wet coughs, lung infections, and nasal congestion will overcome the body.
Treatments
Although there are frightening symptoms for dextrocardia, the chances of your cilia not functioning are very rare. Therefore, those who have this condition only have a slight risk. In fact, a person may not even know it, unless his or her doctor does an X-ray.
Surgery to correct the organs’ positioning is usually not recommended.
