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Dextrocardia is the medical term for the wrong position of the heart. Find out what exactly it means, whether it can have serious consequences, how to diagnose dextrocardia, and what other conditions it can be associated with.
Dextrocardiais a term used when the heart is not positioned properly. Physiologically, the heart is located in the chest, behind the breastbone, the tip and 2/3 of this organ is on the left side of the midline, and 1/3 on the right side.
In the case of dextrocardia, it is displaced and the proportions of the position are reversed, moreover, the tip of the heart is on the right side.
This state is therefore a mirror image of the proper location of this organ.
It happens that dextrocardia is accompanied by a change in the position of other organs of the human body. If the location of other organs of the chest and abdomen is a mirror image of their normal position, e.g. the liver on the left and the spleen on the right, we speak of visceral inversion (Latinsitus inversus ).
Causes of dextrocardia
Dextrocardia is a congenital defect, most often caused by genetic mutations, and results from disorders that occur in the early stages of embryo development.
The frequency of its occurrence is low, it is estimated that one in 12 thousand children is born with it.
So far, no factors increasing the probability of this defect have been discovered, it has only been observed that in some people dextrocardia is accompanied by ciliary dyskinesia, i.e. abnormal structure and function of cilia that cover the epithelium of the respiratory tract.
Dextrocardia: symptoms and diagnosis
It is worth knowing that dextrocardia itself, and even visceral inversion usually do not cause any symptoms, and the diagnosis is most often made accidentally - usually on the basis of a routine chest X-ray or abdominal ultrasound.
Dextrocardia can make a medical examination difficult because it completely changes the sites of auscultation of the heart valves.
In addition, visceral inversion significantly complicates the diagnosis, e.g. due to the atypical location of the appendix, its inflammation may be overlooked, because in people with visceral inversion, the pain associated with this disease may appear completely atypically - afteron the left side.
If dextrocardia is accompanied by these ciliary disorders, it can lead to frequent respiratory infections, shortness of breath and pancreatic disease, but these conditions are due to impaired cilia, not abnormal positioning of organs.
Does dextrocardia need to be treated?
The absence of dextrocardia and visceral inversion symptoms means that these conditions are not treated, and there are no effective methods of treatment.
It is important, however, to inform doctors, if such a diagnosis has ever been made, mainly due to the possible difficulties with diagnosis mentioned above.
If dextrocardia is associated with other diseases, such as changes in the position of vessels, surgery may be necessary, which is most often performed right after the baby is born. In the case of damage to the cilia, it is necessary to treat the organ most damaged by the disease.
About the author
Bow. Maciej GrymuzaA graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University of K. Marcinkowski in Poznań. He graduated from university with an over good result. Currently, he is a doctor in the field of cardiology and a doctoral student. He is particularly interested in invasive cardiology and implantable devices (stimulators).