I can never remember the term when I need it, so I thought I would write a blog about the condition to try and correct that.

Dextrocardia occurs when the heart is in the right side of the chest and the apex points to the right instead of the left.  This condition was discovered in the year 1600 but was not documented until the 1700s.  It is also an uncommon condition and occurs in 1 out of every 12,000 pregnancies.  As per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2019 there were 3,695,201 babies born in the United States in 2020.  This means that statistically about 307.9 kids were born with the condition.  Dextrocardia is caused genetic issue that occurs early in pregnancy.  Over 60 genes are responsible for the positioning of our organs, and it is still not known which gene is responsible.  There are also different types of dextrocardia.

  • Isolated dextrocardia – this means that the heart is flipped, but all the other organs are in the normal position.
  • Dextrocardia with situs inversus – the heart is a “mirror image,” but the rest of the patient’s organs are also flipped.
  • Dextrocardia with heart defects – the patient has another congenital heart defect that effects the heart’s ability to function correctly.

Some of the congenital heart defects that commonly occur w/ dextrocardia:

  • Double outlet right ventricle – the patient’s aorta extends from the right ventricle instead of the left.
  • Endocardial cushion effect – there are problems with the walls of the heart that separate the chambers of the heart.
  • Pulmonary stenosis – the patient’s pulmonary artery is to narrow. The severity of the patient’s condition is dependent upon how narrowed the vessel is.
  • Pulmonary atresia – pulmonary valve doesn’t form properly, so the valve does not open.
  • Single ventricle
  • Transposition of the great arteries – the great vessels are flipped. The pulmonary artery is attached to the left ventricle and the aorta is attached to the right ventricle.
  • Ventricular septal defect – there is a hole between the right and left ventricles. The congenital heart defect is the most common and accounts for up to 25% of all defects and presents with another defect in 50% of all cases of congenital heart defects.

Some people have no associated problems and find out about the condition by accident.  But others can experience issues like:

  • Regular lung or sinus infections
  • Complaints of chronic fatigue
  • Cyanosis or pale skin
  • Jaundice of the skin and sclera of the eyes
  • Complaints of difficulty breathing
  • An inability to gain weight

To learn more about the congenital heart defects I mentioned join us in either EMT L6 or ALS 8

 

References:

Cleveland Clinic. (2023). Dextrocardia. Retrieved from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23125-dextrocardia.

Hamilton, B.E., Martin, J.A., & Osterman, M. (2021, May). Births: Provisional Data for 2020. Retreived from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr012-508.pdf.