What does the normal and mirror arrangement of organs in humans look like. Mirror arrangement of organs in humans

The main character is pierced in the heart, but for some reason he does not die. It turns out that he has it - on the right, the authors of detectives discover the secret. Such a plot is popular in literature, but how do real “mirror” people live? Indeed, for some, by the whim of nature, the internal organs are not located like everyone else, but in a “mirror image”.

Kyiv student Alla Kravtsova guessed from childhood that her heart was on the right: “I told my parents - they laughed, they say, everyone has it a little in the middle. And at the age of 15 she came to the cardiogram. The doctor listened to the left side: “The apparatus has broken again! Just got a new one!" I timidly told her: “And you, on the other hand, try it!”. Then, for the sake of interest, they did an ultrasound of the body, and it turned out that Alya was a “mirror” person. “Instead of 10 minutes of ultrasound of the spleen, they do at least 40 minutes for me: the doctor rebuilds the device, “sharpened” for ordinary people,” the girl shares. But with Alexander Lyavinets from Svalyava, a curiosity happened at all: “In the 8th grade, I had a complication after the flu.

The doctors listened to the heart on the left and got an almost straight line on the cardiogram. In a panic, they carried me to the intensive care unit, because I was “dying”. On the way, I said that my heart might be on the right, but the doctors only added fuel to the fire: “He is also delirious!”. I spent 6 days in intensive care. Finally, an old doctor was invited. He put his hand on my chest and said that the heart is not like everyone else.

Neither Alexander nor Alla was released from physical education, and after the examination, doctors began to ask rare patients for a picture as a keepsake. And young people treat Alla’s features with trepidation: “It’s such a romance to hug and feel how your heart beats to your heart,” the girl boasts. And they also say that gifted children are awarded with a “mirror” arrangement of organs. Our heroine went to school at the age of 5, entered the institute at 15. “Often prophetic dreams are dreamed. In the latter, I saw that a very necessary employee did not come to work. I wake up in a sweat, I call her - she: "Everything is fine, I'm leaving." But she doesn’t turn out to be on the spot - family problems were returned from the threshold, ”says the girl.

And also “mirror” people check psychics: “One looked at the palm:“ You seem to be a shifter. I am in shock, I explain what and how, and he even surprised himself, - says Alla. - Sometimes I forget to tell the doctors. They will listen to the “heart”, write down the diagnosis, and when I realize that the phonendoscope was applied in the wrong place, they justify themselves: “Oh, I didn’t hear it.”

Eve. Parents say the baby can predict the future

The fact that 5-year-old Eva is not an ordinary girl, her mother Yulia found out even before her birth - the doctors noticed a "mirror" on the ultrasound. “She is growing up as a very smart baby, and she began to speak in sentences. I could explain: “I want to go for a walk,” when the rest of the children shouted “ghouls,” and now I’m ready for school,” parents say. And a young resident of Dneprodzerzhinsk predicts the future: “Everything would be written off as coincidences, if it didn’t happen so often,” says Yulia’s mother. - One TV channel was going to come to us. And Eva, talking about a future visit, named another. She was corrected.

But in the end, the one that the daughter was talking about really arrived! And he can also say: "Now the godfather will come." But we know that Masha was not going to visit us at all! And then - a call at the door, a friend on the threshold.

Seryozha. All organs are "mirror"

But ultrasound in the case of Tatyana Matyushenko from Makeevka, Donetsk region, was not so “attentive”. When the son was born, the doctors, as if nothing had happened, listened, took tests. And only when the second month went to the strong man, the new pediatrician (the family moved) began to doubt: “Either I misheard, or your child has a heart on the right side.” It turned out that not only the heart was out of place, but also all other organs. And this is good, otherwise the organs would interfere with each other. And Seryozhka also confirms one of the theories of the birth of "mirror people" - the boy's relative also had a heart on the right.

ANNA: "GET A TICKET FOR FREE"

“My daughter had peritonitis at the age of 4 and we went to the regional hospital in Sumy for an operation,” says the mother of 26-year-old Anna Bilous, Antonina Ilyinichna. - The anesthesiologist was the first to be frightened: he put his hand on his daughter's heart - but it does not beat. Everything became clear only when cut. The next day I sit in the corridor (they didn’t let me see my daughter), and everyone goes to my Anya and the doctors go. I even got scared. But only then I was informed that she had a reverse arrangement of all organs.

The girl herself recalls how only once she took advantage of her “special” position: “I was given the wrong cardiogram - that is, they listened not to the right side, but to the left. The doctors, when they began to read it, told my mother: “How is it, your child should be in a wheelchair now, and she is jumping along the corridor, as if nothing had happened,” and they gave me a ticket to the sanatorium for free.

Doctors pay close attention to Anna in adulthood. “Once upon a time, during an ultrasound scan of all organs, almost the entire hospital came running to look at me. I’m lying, and they: “Oh, look what she has there!” - Anya recalls and adds that it is very difficult for her in hospitals. No equipment is suitable for such people: cardiograms are often read incorrectly, it is difficult to swallow the probe.

Anna does not like to tell everyone about her unusualness. “Once I told one girl that my organs are the opposite and still, they say, I feel like all normal people. So she said to me: “How do you know how normal people feel?” - grimacing, recalls Anya.

Olya gives listen to the heart

But 13-year-old Olya Martynova is recognized in all hospitals in Kherson. She found out that she had a transposition of organs at the age of seven, and immediately “triggered the whole district.” “All classmates know about it,” Olya told us, “and they are even proud of me. In physical education, once all my classmates convinced the teacher that I was telling the truth. People in general are reluctant to believe in such things, especially children.

But, by the way, I don’t need any certificate that my organs are not in their places: I just offer to put my hand to my chest and let the unbeliever feel for himself where exactly my heart is beating.

PAVEL: THE DOCTOR DID NOT UNDERSTAND, AND WANTED TO CUT

Although a resident of Izmail, Pavel Garan, has known that he is a “mirror” since the age of seven, he is still confused about where he has what. “As a child, I did not understand whether it was bad or good. But they were immediately released from physical education: they were afraid that some of the organs would fail. Of course, this greatly affected my physical development, I grew up as a weak child. But as soon as he graduated from school and went to another city to study, he immediately began to play sports, although the doctors did not recommend this. And literally a year later, I proved that even my body can be developed: at the beginning of the 1st course, I weighed 63 kg with a height of 182. By the second half of the year, I began to weigh 70 kilograms, felt great, and ran like a horse, ”Pasha smiles.

And his feature works great in relationships with girls: “After the phrase“ my heart stopped from your beauty ”you put the hand of the“ victim ”to your chest and she really does not hear the blows! Some are ready to faint. But I do not reveal my secret to the last, ”says Pavel.

One of the myths about the mirror arrangement of organs is "all such people are one hundred percent left-handed." But Pasha was equally good at both in elementary school. But then a sister was born and, teaching her to write, Pasha also got used to doing it with his right hand. She, by the way, like all the other relatives of Pavel, has organs in their places: “Even great-grandmothers say that I am the only one in the family,” says the guy.

“But a curious and even dangerous story happened to me this winter. I was in a cafe in the evening, I ate something wrong, and in the morning my stomach ached terribly. The ambulance came and immediately took me to the hospital. The doctor examined me and confidently stated: “So this is appendicitis, you need to cut it.” I told him: “Doctor, stop! You can't cut! I have all the organs - on the contrary. He slowed down, but he didn't know what to do. He says, for now, put ice on your stomach, and then we'll see. After two days of fasting, everything went away - they decided that they had overeaten nuts, and they are poorly digested, ”Pavel tells about the miracle.

SERGEY: I SAW THE BRIDE IN A DREAM

23-year-old resident of Zaporozhye Sergey Kulikov, like his "mirror brothers", can predict the future. He first saw his wife Daria in a prophetic dream. “I dreamed that we accidentally ran into some girl in an unfamiliar cafe. A week later, I went to visit a friend, and we decided to sit with him in the same institution, ”recalls Seryozha. - Entering there, I suddenly realized that the situation seemed familiar to me. Two girls were sitting at the next table, one of whom I recognized: it was a beautiful stranger from a dream.

The couple are now expecting a child. “I know without any ultrasound that this is a girl, I can see exactly what day she will be born, and I don’t even need to come up with a name. But before the birth, I will not say it, - says the happy father. “And I also know that my girl, thank God, will not be like me, but normal.”

For his "mirror" the guy got it as a child, classmates teased: "alien." When Sergei grew up, it turned out that with his deviation it was not so easy to find a job as a driver. “Doctors argue like this: “Since the heart is on the wrong side, it experiences additional stress, it can fail.” And to tell the truth, it used to hurt me sometimes. And the employer thinks: "It's better not to take risks and hire someone else."

And the gift of clairvoyance does not always bring joy. “Two months before my grandmother died, I knew that she would die soon. But he could not change anything, - Sergey admits. - Sometimes I see the future like pictures before my eyes. I start to peer into them, I notice the details. Whatever I can do, I help my neighbors. Found missing people several times. I am still learning to heal, but so far I can only relieve acute pain. ”

ALEXEY: “SORRY, THEY DID NOT TAKE THE POGRANTS”

A resident of Dnepropetrovsk, 30-year-old Aleksey Pilipenko, has known since childhood that all his organs are the other way around. “And you have to tell people about it all the time. Not because I'm a braggart, but because I take people to the mountains. There, even with me, anything can happen - so just in case they should know, ”says Alexey.

But sometimes he has to suffer from his peculiarity: “I dreamed of serving at the border, but they didn’t take me into the army, although I passed in all respects - I have been involved in sports since my youth: sambo, boxing, weightlifting. But as soon as the doctors found out that my organs were mirrored, they panicked and sent me to the air defense, ”says Alexey.

But the Dnepropetrovsk citizen never wanted to fool around and cheat doctors. But it happens that doctors themselves arrange tests for each other: “Once I went to donate blood, and there the nurse is an old granny. I was very surprised, I called my friend, also an old woman, from the next office. And let's play a trick on her: “Well, listen, what's with his heart? And feel where his liver is? She cannot understand anything, she does not believe her eyes. When I found out, we laughed together for a long time, - Alexey smiles. - And once I went for an ultrasound, I caught a cold in my kidneys, so the doctor himself thought and thought and said: “Go for a walk for 10 minutes.” When I returned, the whole department gathered in the office, about 15 people, I got scared. And once on the ECG they asked to leave a leaflet with indications: for students, to study, ”Alexey talks about his adventures.

And yet, the man admits, he often forgets to warn the doctors when he does a fluorography. “I come for the results, and the doctors apologize: “We photographed you by mistake with your back, you need to redo it.” Then it's my turn to apologize. I smile, and so and so, you did everything right. But the son of Alexei, although he looks very much like his dad, all the organs are in their places. And in the family there was nothing like it before him.

WHERE THEY COME FROM

Doctors call the mirror arrangement of the heart, liver, spleen, stomach and other unpaired organs “transposition”, and explain the phenomenon with several hypotheses. According to one of them, twins develop in the womb, but then merge into one child. “That is why these people have supernatural powers. One person gets what was “weighed out” for a couple, astrologer, psychic Natalya Kovalenko believes. - The appearance of such children is not an accident and may be caused by special horoscopes of parents. Such "mirror" signs as "Gemini", "Pisces", "Libra" can push for the birth of a special child.

Dr. Boris Skachko has his own version: “It is more likely that the change occurs at the level of genes. Plus - can affect the course of pregnancy. If a mother, when she already has 20-30 baby cells, is upset by a burnt cake, this experience will change the hormonal background, and that can become the very factor. But the cases of the birth of such people are only 1 in 10-20 thousand people, so there is not enough material for a systematic study. There is no register of such people anywhere in the world, since it has no applied value: such people are no more threatened than any ordinary person.

Today we will talk about the location of human organs. It is worth noting that anatomy is a rather fascinating subject, not only for medical personnel. Interest in this issue at least once in a lifetime wakes up every person on our planet.

Haven't you ever wondered:

where is the liver, appendix;
why colitis in the side;
why women in an "interesting" position feel nauseous, and so on.

How the organs are located, photos with descriptions will be presented in this article. Even a superficial knowledge of anatomy can help you get emergency specialist help over the phone before the ambulance arrives.

Knowledge of anatomy is the key to understanding the processes occurring inside and malfunctions. It is very important to take into account the fact that knowledge of the internal structure of a person is constantly expanding. But for this it is necessary to clearly understand how our body functions and how the internal organs are interconnected. Without this basic knowledge, all scientific progress is simply useless.

What is anatomy?

Now we will briefly talk about what anatomy is. Let us turn to the Greek roots of the origin of the word, the translation sounds something like this:

incision;
opening;
dissection.

This branch of biology studies the structure of the human body, but, in addition, it covers the issues of origin, formation and evolution. Anatomy studies the appearance of body parts and the location of human organs.

It is also important to note that there are several forms of this science:

Normal.
Pathological.
Topographic.

We propose to highlight this issue very briefly. Consider each type of anatomy separately.

normal anatomy

Let's start with the fact that there is a lot of material on the structure of the human body. As a result, some difficulties arose in the study of this science. That is why the human body was divided into parts, that is, systems.

It is the organ systems that are considered by systematic (or normal) anatomy. The whole point is to divide complex parts into simpler ones. It is also important to note that this section of anatomy studies a person in a healthy state. This is the main difference between normal anatomy and pathological.

pathological anatomy

As well as physiology, pathological anatomy studies the changes that occur to the human body during any disease. Studies are carried out microscopically, which helps to identify pathological conditions:

fabrics;
organs.

It is definitely worth mentioning that the object of study in this case is a person who died of an illness, that is, a corpse.

It is also important that all anatomical knowledge can be divided into two parts:

General.
Private.

The first group includes knowledge that reflects the methods of studying the anatomy of pathological processes. To the second - morphological manifestations of diseases (for example, with tuberculosis, cirrhosis, rheumatism, and so on).

Surgical anatomy

This variety of such a vast science began to develop only when the need for practical medicine arose. Who became the founder of surgical anatomy (it is also called topographic)? The rather famous doctor Pirogov N.I.

This section studies the location of organs and other elements in humans relative to each other. It also addresses the following questions:

structure by layers;
lymph flow;
blood supply (provided that the body is healthy).

It is important to note the fact that with all this, some factors are taken into account, namely:

gender;
age changes and so on.

The anatomical structure of a person

Before proceeding to the location of the internal organs of a person, it is necessary to clarify one more point. Since childhood, everyone knows that the functional element of the entire human body is a cell. It is the accumulation of these smallest particles that form tissues and organs. All parts of the body are combined into systems. We propose to list which ones.

Let's start with the one that is considered the most difficult - digestive. The organs included in this system provide the process of digestion of food.
The organs of the cardiovascular system provide blood supply to the entire body. It is important to note that this also includes the lymphatic vessels.
The endocrine system regulates nervous and biological processes.
The only system that differs between men and women is the genitourinary system. It simultaneously provides two functions: reproductive, excretory.
Protects internal organs from the external environment
Life would be impossible without breathing. The respiratory system enriches the blood with oxygen and converts it into carbon dioxide.
Finally, we came to the musculoskeletal system, which allows us to move and maintain the body in a certain position.
The nervous system, which includes the brain (head and spinal), is also very important. It is the brain that controls and coordinates the work of all body systems.

Thoracic region

In this section you can see a photo of the location of the organs of the chest region. Let's analyze the function of each of them:

The heart is in charge of pumping blood.
The lungs saturate the blood with oxygen.
The bronchi provide protection against foreign bodies and transfer oxygen to the alveoli of the lungs.
The trachea moves oxygen to the bronchi, and in the opposite direction - carbon dioxide.
The esophagus is essential for delivering food to the stomach.
The diaphragm plays an important role during breathing. Namely - the control of lung volume.
The thymus produces white blood cells and performs a number of functions, including maintaining immunity, being responsible for growth and blood composition.

Abdominal region

The location of the abdominal organs can be seen in the photo presented in this section. Bodies:

digestive tract;
pancreas;
liver;
gallbladder;
kidneys;
spleen;
pancreas;
intestines.

The digestive system includes:

stomach;
intestines (small, large and rectum);
the liver (the largest gland in our body) and other organs involved in digestion.

Small and large pelvis

Let's start with what a pelvis is. This is the part of the skeleton that is located in the lower part of the body. Let's list the bones that make up the base:

pelvic (2 pcs);
sacrum;
coccyx.

The small and large pelvis consists of the following organs:

intestines;
bladder;
sexual organs.

The latter are different for men and women. In men, the genital organs include:

prostate;
testes;
vas deferens;
penis.

uterus;
appendages;
ovaries;
vagina.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that the location of the organs in this area is quite close, and they are all interconnected. If there is a problem in one of the organs, then it is likely that this will lead to damage to others.

Women in an "interesting" position

It would seem that the location of human organs in an "interesting" position changes only in the abdominal cavity. However, this is not the case. Changes also apply to other organs:

the heart now works for two (increases in size);
mammary glands increase;
thickening of the fallopian tubes.

All changes can be seen in the photo of this section of the article. It is also important that the body of a woman after the birth of a child gradually returns to its previous state, however, the uterus will be slightly, but enlarged.

Human anatomy is a rather interesting topic, but we only touched on some (general) points in the article. In addition, to this day, man has not been able to know all the possibilities of the human body.

The mirror arrangement of organs was first described by Matthew Bailey in 1797..

When Alla Kravtsova, a resident of Kiev, was doing an electrocardiogram, the doctor became worried: “The device broke down, or what? In general, he doesn’t find a heart, as if he didn’t exist ... ”It turned out that there really was no heart - on the left. The loss was found in the right side of the chest. And they found out that Alla is a “mirror” person. By a strange whim of nature, her internal organs are located not like everyone else, but in a mirror image.

AND IT'S TOO MUCH TO DIE...

With Evgeny Kushin from Blagoveshchensk, a shock happened at all: “At the age of 15, I passed a medical examination at the military registration and enlistment office. The young doctor listened to my heart and stared at me as if he saw a ghost in front of him. Then, silently, without saying a word to anyone, he made a cardiogram. And when he saw an almost even line, he began to shout to urgently call an ambulance.

Thinking I was dying, they sent me to cardiology. But the elderly gray-haired doctor, who examined me in the emergency room, only laughed: “You, my dear, are absolutely healthy. And it's too early for you to die. It's just that your heart is not on the left, but on the right. It happens, although rarely. In my practice, you are the second such unique person. And I'm lucky. Not every cardiologist is lucky enough to see such an unusual patient.”

A MYSTERY SHADED IN DARKNESS

And indeed it is. People whose heart is on the right side can be counted on the fingers of the whole world. In medicine, this is considered a congenital anomaly and is called dextrocardia - from the Latin dexter (right) and the ancient Greek kardia (heart). However, in such people, not only the heart, but also all other internal organs are mirrored: the heart is on the right side of the chest, and the liver and spleen are on the left side of the abdomen. The blood vessels, nerves, lymphatics, and intestines are also inverted. Scientifically, this is called transposition. Doctors explain the phenomenon with several hypotheses. According to one of them, twins develop in the womb, but then merge into one child. One person seems to get what was intended for two. But here some kind of failure occurs in the program, and some organs are not in their places. An unconvincing theory, isn't it? However, there is another one. According to the second version, changes in the womb occur at the hormonal level at the earliest possible date. The stress caused by certain experiences changes the hormonal background of the expectant mother and becomes a trigger that turns an ordinary child into a “mirror” one. There are also experts who believe that the mirror arrangement of organs is affected by viral diseases suffered by the expectant mother, poor ecology and

heredity. However, there is still no clarity on this issue. Some hypotheses ... And how could it be otherwise, if such a unique person is born one in 10 thousand people. As they say, there is not enough material for systematic research. No one keeps records of such people. And why - a heart attack and other diseases threaten them no more than any other person. And they live no less than mere mortals.

WILL LIVE TO 12 YEARS

For example, Evdokia Ivanovna Kromina from the village of Kuten, Orenburg Region, has already celebrated her 74th birthday and feels great. The girl found out that she was not like everyone else when she was five years old. The doctors were frightened, they told my mother that the baby would live only up to 12 years. “I remember that my mother cried all the time, and my grandmother prayed and dragged me to church every day,” Evdokia Ivanovna laughs. - When I turned twelve, the doctors extended my “expiration date” to 18 years. But as you can see, I'm still alive and well. And I don’t suffer at all from my peculiarity. ” However, this is not always the case. Sergey Yuzhin, a 25-year-old resident of Tambov, because of his<<зеркальности>> almost gave his soul to God. Once he had a stomach ache. called out<<скорую>>, he was taken to the hospital, but the doctors could not make a diagnosis. Appendicitis was suspected, but the patient's right flank was neither inflamed nor tender. An hour passed, another, Sergei lost consciousness from pain, the pressure dropped, the pulse slowed down. And it is not known how this story would have ended if the doctors suddenly did not understand that it was really appendicitis, only Sergey's appendix is not on the right, but on the left.

THEY SEE THE FUTURE

There is an opinion that people with a mirror arrangement of organs can read other people's thoughts, predict the future, and heal people.

And indeed it is. Dmitry Koryushkin from Cheboksary always knows in advance who will call him on his mobile or come to visit. And Daniel Nelyubin from Ipatov, as a teenager, saw in a dream the death of his father. At the age of 17, the guy knew for sure that he would go to medical school, and then he would work in an ambulance. At 30, he predicted to his wife the birth of twin boys. Most of the "mirror" people become excellent palmists and easily read the fate of a person in the palm of their hand. Some find missing people, determine whether they are alive or not, from photographs. Others have the gift of healing ... Why does nature create some people completely different from others? Alas, scientists do not yet have an answer to this question. But some of them timidly put forward the assumption that this is how a new branch is being formed in the history of human development. More perfect, more developed, endowed with incredible abilities. Maybe this is how - gradually and step by step - nature creates a man of the future, whose appearance a few years ago was predicted by anthropologists and futurologists.

Dextrocardia is a congenital anomaly of the cardiovascular system, a type of dystopia, in which the heart is partially or completely displaced to the right and occupies a position that is mirror-symmetrical to normal.

Similarly, the parts of the heart and all large vessels are located. In some cases, a mirror arrangement of some or all internal organs is revealed. According to statistics, dextrocardia occurs in approximately 0.01% of the population.

If the abnormal location is not accompanied by other pathologies, dextrocardia may not manifest itself and is detected by chance, when visiting a doctor for other reasons.

The displacement of the heart to the right can also be a consequence of pathological processes in the chest: atelectasis of the lungs, hydrothorax, tumor processes. With a secondary mechanical displacement, one speaks of a pathological dextrapposition of the heart.

The laying of organs and systems of the body occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy. The heart tube is formed in the first weeks of embryonic development and, for unknown reasons, curves to the right.

The most likely cause of the abnormal structure of the cardiovascular system is considered mutations in the ZIC3Shh, HAND, Pitxz, ACVR2 genes. There is evidence of an autosomal recessive type of inheritance of the anomaly.

Risk factors for the development of the anomaly have not been elucidated.

Kinds

All cases of dextrocardia are divided into three types:

Simple dextrocardia. An extremely rare option when only the heart and great vessels are mirrored.
Dextrocardia with a mirror arrangement parts of the digestive and respiratory systems.
Dextrocardia with complete transposition internal organs.

Danger and complications

in the absence of concomitant pathologies does not pose a particular health hazard, does not affect the quality and duration of life. In such cases, patients often learn about their characteristics by chance, during a medical examination for another reason.

One of the most significant risks for a patient with undiagnosed and uncomplicated dextrocardia and organ transposition is medical error in the diagnosis. Diagnosis of the most common diseases of internal organs is difficult due to their unusual location and the rarity of such clinical cases.

Difficulties arise when it is necessary to perform abdominal operations, especially when it comes to the need for transplantation of asymmetric organs.

As practice shows, people with a dystopic location of the heart are more prone to diseases of the respiratory system and other infectious diseases.

In most cases, dystopic arrangement accompanied by other malformations, among which:

endocardial defects;
Double ventricular output;
interventricular septum;

Abnormal location of the heart can be combined with the most severe pathologies of organ development for example, patients are found to have a two- or three-chambered heart.

The danger of the patient's condition depends on the type of comorbidity and its severity. Some concomitant heart defects appear immediately, in the first hours of life (the so-called "blue" defects), some ("white") may be detected later, due to the asymptomatic course at an early age.

Sometimes the right-sided located heart is combined with other pathologies of the abdominal and pleural cavities. One of the most common comorbidities is heterotaxic syndrome. In patients with heterotaxic syndrome, the spleen is often absent, in some cases several underdeveloped spleens with significant dysfunction are found.

In 25% of cases, patients with dextrocardia have primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a rare pathology of the development of the ciliary epithelium. Normally functioning cilia influence the formation of internal organs and often cause their transposition.

Half of patients with PCD are diagnosed with Kartagener-Sievert syndrome, inextricably linked with the abnormal position of the internal organs. In such patients, pathological disorders of the anatomical structure of the upper respiratory tract, numerous bronchiectasis are detected.

Cilia on the surface of the mucous membranes, which act as an active filter, may be completely absent. Men with this disease are infertile, since their spermatozoa are devoid of flagella.

This pathology is always combined with complete or partial transposition of the internal organs, which indirectly confirms the hypothesis of the hereditary nature of dextrocardia.

Dystopic location of the heart common in children with Patau syndrome- trisomy on the 13th pair of chromosomes. This chromosomal disease is accompanied by multiple malformations affecting almost all organ systems, patients with Patau syndrome rarely survive to school age.

Symptoms

Uncomplicated dextrocardia in combination with complete transposition of the internal organs usually does not manifest itself in any way and does not bother the patient at all. Such cases are relatively rare, more often dextrocardia is accompanied by other pathologies, which can manifest both from the first seconds, and within a few years of life.

There are no characteristic external symptoms caused by heart dystopia, but it can be indirectly indicated by:

Icteric coloration of the skin and sclera from the moment of birth;
Difficulty breathing;
cyanosis or pallor of the skin;
Heart rhythm disturbances.

In older children, in addition to the above symptoms, there may be:

Increased susceptibility to infectious diseases of the lungs and upper respiratory tract;
Increased fatigue, muscle weakness;
Lagging behind in physical development.

When to See a Doctor

Complicated dextrocardia is detected even in infancy and the child is immediately put on a dispensary record at the cardiologist. When uncomplicated dextrocardia is detected at an older and more mature age, they do the same.

The patient should undergo regular preventive examinations with the appropriate specialist.

Diagnostics

Dextrocardia may be suspected during normal external examination. The apex beat of the heart on palpation is found on the right, percussion shows a shift in cardiac dullness, and auscultation reveals an unusual location of heart sounds.

Additional instrumental studies may be required to confirm the diagnosis:

X-ray examination;
Ultrasound of the heart and blood vessels;
electrocardiography;
Magnetic resonance imaging;
CT scan.
Angiography and cardiac catheterization.

The choice of examination methods depends on the type and severity of comorbidities.

Since the electrical axis of the heart with dextrocardia is mirrored relative to the norm, The ECG curve looks like a mirror image of the normal. Electrocardiography is a mandatory type of examination in case of suspicion of any disorders of the heart for the differential diagnosis of congenital and acquired pathologies of the cardiovascular system.

Read in detail about coarctation of the aorta in the fetus and newborn - this heart disease is treated quite well.

Treatment

With a diagnosis of cardiac dextrocardia, uncomplicated by comorbidities and in no way affecting the general state of health, treatment is not required.

Treatment tactics in the presence of comorbidities aimed at their elimination and is developed depending on the severity of the patient's condition. Often, the only possible way to alleviate the condition and save the patient's life is surgery.

In preparation for the operation, conservative treatment is carried out to stabilize the patient's condition. As part of maintenance therapy, the following is prescribed:

Diuretics;
Antihypertensive drugs;
Drugs that support the heart muscle.

Almost always, patients are prescribed long-term treatment with antibiotics and drugs from the probiotic group for the prevention of violations of the intestinal microflora.

The general scheme can be supplemented with other drugs, depending on the characteristics of the course of the disease.

Forecast and prevention

In the absence of concomitant diseases, there is no threat to the health and life of the patient. The presence of complications from other internal organs increases the risk of developing heart failure, acute infectious diseases, male infertility, intestinal maltoration.

In severe cases, accompanied by multiple congenital pathologies, the mortality of patients during the first year of life may exceed 90%(Patau's syndrome).

There are no effective measures to prevent dextrocardia. Due to the likely hereditary nature of the anomaly, couples who have proven cases of dextrocardia among relatives should especially carefully monitor their health during pregnancy planning. General recommendations include adherence to the principles of a healthy lifestyle.

The abnormal location of the heart in the right half of the chest is called dextrocardia. This disease refers to congenital pathologies of development and is often combined with other abnormalities in the structure of internal organs.

In the absence of signs of a violation of cardiac activity, patients with abnormal disposition of the heart and blood vessels do not need treatment, their life expectancy and health status do not differ from other people. With the simultaneous presence of valve defects, surgical treatment is indicated.

Read in this article

Causes of the anomalous position

When examining a set of genes in patients with right-sided localization of the heart, mutations were found in some parts of the chromosomes that occur in the first trimester of pregnancy. They can be inherited or appear primarily under the influence of damaging factors. The heart tube, from which the heart is later formed, in the fetus deviates to the right side, which leads to the formation of a mirror arrangement of the organ.

Most often, other structures of the thoracic and abdominal cavities simultaneously occupy the opposite location. Depending on the combination of developmental anomalies, the following options are formed:

reversal of the aorta and pulmonary artery,
pulmonary stenosis,
septal defect between the ventricles
Fallot tetrad,
two or three chambered heart
underdeveloped or absent spleen,
pathology of the ciliated epithelium of the bronchi,
infertility.

The most severe form in which right-sided localization of the heart is diagnosed is Patau's syndrome. These children have malformations in almost all organs, so cases when they reach school age are rare.

Types of change

If there is only a displacement of the heart, then such a pathology is called simple or isolated. Its frequency of occurrence is extremely low. With mirror dextrocardia, the position of the organs located in the chest changes. Complete transposition affects all structures of the body.

From dextrocardia it is necessary to distinguish an acquired disease - dextroposition of the heart. Pathological processes in the chest cavity can lead to the movement of the heart to the right, namely:

atelectasis (compression of the walls) of the lungs,
accumulation of fluid
tumor,
enlargement of the liver and spleen,
removal of the right lung.

Overflow of the stomach and intestines with food and gases can temporarily shift the heart to the right side. If, after treatment, the factor that caused the movement of the organ is eliminated, then the normal location is restored.

With true dextrocardia, the heart can never shift to the left side.

Why is this position dangerous?

With untimely diagnosis of dextrocardia, there may be medical errors during surgical interventions, especially if emergency care is needed. With the current availability of medical services, such situations are rare. An isolated pathology does not pose a threat to the patient and is an accidental finding during a dispensary examination.

With combined malformations, an anomaly in the location of the heart worsens intracardiac and systemic blood flow, and surgical treatment is also difficult. Displacement of organs during mirror and complete transposition disrupts the processes of digestion and respiration, such patients have an increased tendency to infectious diseases.

Symptoms of dextrocardia

The patient may not be aware of the existence of a right-sided location of the heart, since there are no specific manifestations. Such people can give birth to absolutely healthy children, but still the risk of developmental anomalies is higher than that of the rest.

If dextrocardia is part of a pathological arrangement of organs, then its symptoms can be detected after the birth of a child:

prolonged neonatal jaundice,
slow growth and development
pallor or cyanosis of the skin,
rapid breathing and pulse.

Mirror location of the heart (dextrocardia)

Infants are capricious, quickly get tired when feeding, gain weight with difficulty, and often suffer from colds. On examination, the apex beat of the heart is found on the right side of the sternum, the boundaries are displaced, the liver is under the left costal arch, and the stomach and spleen are on the right.

When listening to the heart and lungs, unusual localization of tones and breath sounds is noted.

Watch the video about heart defects and their types:

Diagnosis of the position of the heart

You can confirm the doctor's assumption about the abnormal location of organs using instrumental research methods:

radiography helps to determine the degree of movement of the heart and neighboring organs;
has a mirror direction of the teeth, the voltage is reduced, the QRS complexes are increased in leads V1–V3 and lowered in V4–V6;
Ultrasound helps to assess the structure of the heart, the presence of valvular defects and main vessels, while examining the abdominal cavity, it is possible to assess the correct location of the main organs in it;
CT and MRI are prescribed for detailed diagnosis and the need for surgery.

Treatment for anomalies

The choice of treatment method depends on the presence of cardiac insufficiency. Asymptomatic cases do not require therapy and are advised to maintain sufficient physical activity. Before making a decision about the possibility of playing professional sports, you need to undergo a complete examination, including EGC with stress tests.

If dextrocardia is found in conjunction with other malformations of the heart that cause circulatory failure, then prompt elimination of the defect is indicated. During preoperative preparation, cardiotonic and restorative drugs are prescribed, the course of surgical intervention and the postoperative rehabilitation period do not have significant differences.

Forecast

Patients with asymptomatic dextrocardia can be healthy as long as they follow the recommendations regarding nutrition, avoiding bad habits, and maintaining physical activity. They have the same risk of heart failure as other people. In such cases, the pathology is considered just an anatomical defect.

With multiple deviations in the structure and formation of organs, the prognosis will depend on the type of malformation and the timeliness of its treatment, the possibilities for radical surgery.

How to live for people with a mirror organ

By itself, dextrocardia does not require restrictions on physical activity or professional activity. When undergoing any type of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, it is imperative to warn the doctor or medical staff about this feature, since a special technique is needed to obtain the correct result.

If there were cases of dextrocardia among close relatives in the family, then before planning a pregnancy, a woman should consult a medical geneticist, since this pathology increases the risk of abnormalities in the development of internal organs in a child.

The heart, located in the right half of the chest, may not lead to disruption of the cardiovascular system if this pathology is isolated and congenital. The reasons for this anomaly is a genetic defect. In the absence of symptoms, dextrocardia is not a health risk. In the case of combined lesions of valves or large vessels, surgical treatment is recommended.