{"id":11493,"date":"2023-02-10T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T05:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/?p=11493"},"modified":"2023-02-07T15:23:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T09:53:54","slug":"when-the-heart-is-on-the-right-side-instead-of-the-left-what-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/2023\/02\/10\/when-the-heart-is-on-the-right-side-instead-of-the-left-what-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"When the heart is on the right side instead of the left, what happens?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“The exact cause of dextrocardia is unknown, but it is believed to be related to genetic or developmental factors,” said Dr Nishith Chandra, principal director, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla Road, New Delhi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Let’s deep dive into understanding about dextrocardia (Source: Getty Images\/Thinkstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A rarest of rare conditions that is known to affect one per cent of the world\u2019s population, according to\u00a0Healthline.com<\/em>, is when a person\u2019s\u00a0heart<\/strong>\u00a0points to the right side of their chest instead of the left. The congenital condition, called dextrocardia, is considered an abnormality. Experts point out that while the exact cause of dextrocardia is unknown, it is believed to be related to genetic or developmental factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Dr Abhijit Kulkarni, senior consultant cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals, Bengaluru, dextrocardia can also occur in case of a condition called situs inversus which causes many or all visceral organs to be on the opposite side of the body. \u201cIn addition to your\u00a0heart<\/strong>, your liver, spleen, or other organs may also be located on the opposite, or the other side of your body,\u201d Dr Kulkarni told indianexpress.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, experts suggest that dextrocardia is not life-threatening provided a full body checkup is done to rule out any adversities. \u201cIf the overall structural accompaniments are not significant, then it should not be an issue. But overall prognosis needs a more detailed study of the patient\u2019s reports to determine any associated risks,\u201d Dr Kulkarni said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most people with dextrocardia lead a normal life, according to Dr Subhendu Mohanty, interventional cardiologist, Sharda Hospital, Noida, since this condition is essentially an abnormal development in the mother\u2019s womb, it can lead to \u201cassociated\u00a0heart deformities<\/strong>\u00a0in a small percentage of patients\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dextrocardia on its own does not usually cause problems, but it tends to occur with other conditions that can have serious effects on the heart, lungs and other vital organs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding, Dr Nishith Chandra, principal director, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla Road, New\u00a0Delhi, said that the symptoms of dextrocardia may include shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, and irregular heartbeat, said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Dr Mohanty, such persons can have minor deformities in other organs too. \u201cHence, anybody with dextrocardia needs to undergo a complete evaluation to rule out any such abnormalities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prevention and management <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stressing that there is no specific prevention for dextrocardia, Dr Chandra said that as a lifelong condition, it may require ongoing monitoring and management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTreatment for dextrocardia depends on the severity of the\u00a0condition<\/strong>\u00a0and if there are any underlying heart problems. In some cases, no treatment may be necessary. However, if heart disease or heart failure risk is present, medications, lifestyle changes, or surgery may be recommended,\u201d Dr Chandra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The exact cause of dextrocardia is unknown, but it is believed to be related to genetic or developmental factors,” said Dr Nishith Chandra, principal director, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla Road, New Delhi Let’s deep dive into understanding about dextrocardia (Source: Getty Images\/Thinkstock) A rarest of rare conditions that is known to affect one per …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[15543,15542],"class_list":["post-11493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle-news","tag-abhijit-kulkarni","tag-heart"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11495,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11493\/revisions\/11495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zaanews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}