Situs Inversus - Effect On Anatomy

Effect On Anatomy

The condition affects all major structures within the thorax and abdomen. Generally, the organs are simply transposed through the sagittal plane. The heart is located on the right side of the thorax, the stomach and spleen on the right side of the abdomen and the liver and gall bladder on the left side. The left lung is trilobed and the right lung bilobed, and blood vessels, nerves, lymphatics and the intestines are also transposed.

If the heart is swapped to the right side of the thorax, it is known as situs inversus with dextrocardia or situs inversus totalis. If the heart remains on the normal left side of the thorax, a much rarer condition (1 in 22,000 of the general population), it is known as situs inversus with levocardia or situs inversus incompletus. Situs inversus with levocardia, or dextrocardia without situs inversus, present much higher rates of congenital defects than situs inversus with dextrocardia.

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