Right-hearted patient confuses doctors

A blue-collar worker was rushed to a hospital in Mussafaa industrial area of Abu Dhabi following a chest pain. The patient complained of persistent chest pain on the right side, radiating to right shoulder.

However, the doctor attending him at the Lifecare Hospital was confused as he could not hear his heartbeat.

The reason: the patient has his heart on the right side.

The Egyptian doctor with more than 25 years of experience says he has not seen such a case in his life.

Dr. Khaled Galal (Consultant Interventional Cardiologist), Lifecare Hospital, Mussafa, Abu Dhabi was trying to locate his heartbeats and do necessary tests with machines that normally fit well with any ordinary patient who have their vital internal organs like heart located on the left side of the body.

“In my 25-year career, I have never came across such a case,” said Dr Khaled, who successfully treated and solved the workers’ chest problems.

The abnormal positioning of heart is known as situs inversus, referring to the mirror-image reversal of the organs in the chest and abdominal cavity.

Yadav, who was a leading a normal life earlier, felt chest pain and on his admission in the hospital, doctors realised that he has a rare case of Dextrocardia Situs Inversus, a medical condition that occurs in one in 10,000 births.

The patient underwent an ultrasound examination of the abdomen that showed his liver on the left side and spleen on the right side confirming what is called situs inversus.

“When you examine a patient, you place the stethoscope on the left side to know the pulse rate or heartbeat. In the case of Yadav, I could not get any heartbeat. Then we took an X-Ray,” he said.

“It is a rare case and the normal medical devices could not fit his body. The medical devices are designed to handle a normal person who have their heart, lever, etc. on the left side of the body. Only in very rare cases is a person’s heart found on the right side of the body,” said an official from the hospital.

“Before the revelation of his condition by the doctors, Mr. Yadav was not aware of his condition. He has gone back to India and is taking rest now. He was discharged last Thursday and is recovering,” the hospital officials said.

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