Dextrocardia With Situs Inversus Totalis in an Adult Nigerian: a Case Report

Situs inversus with dextrocardia is the complete inversion of position of the thoracic and abdominal viscera. It may be isolated or associated with malformations, especially cardiac or alimentary. It may be discovered in infancy because of associated anomalies but often remains asymptomatic and discovered by chance in adult life. We report a 69 year old Nigerian woman found to have dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis while presenting for treatment for a totally unrelated problem. Her chest radiograph was however erroneously marked by the radiographer as normal resulting in a wrong report. The findings from an electrocardiogram and echocardiography confirmed the location of the heart in the right hemithorax and an abdominal sonogram showed the liver and gall bladder on the left side of the abdomen while the stomach and spleen were located on the right side. This report underscores the need for routine screening by individuals so that such congenital anomalies can be identified and surgical diagnoses in such patients made correctly to prevent surgical complications.