Congenital heart disease is the birth defect with the highest incidence in Spain, which affects an average of eight out of every thousand babies born. There are more than 50 different types of malformations of the heart, sometimes the same patient can combine more than one.
One of them is the inverted heart syndrome or dextrocardia, in which the heart is pointing to the right side of the chest instead of to the left side, as would be normal.
Inverted heart or dextrocardia
The heart of a baby begins to form from the moment of conception, and its structures have just formed at eight weeks of pregnancy. Congenital heart disease occurs during these first crucial weeks of the baby's development.
Its frequency is very low: it affects one in ten thousand newborn babies. It occurs in the fourth week of pregnancy when, without a cause that explains it, the primitive cardiac tube bends to the right when it should normally bend to the left.
People with inverted heart syndrome have a life expectancy just like people who have a correctly oriented heart. However, the most common types of dextrocardia generate heart defects motivated by this heart disease that require periodic checks.
The abnormal orientation of the heart is not serious in itself if the heart is healthy. But some people with dextrocardia present derived heart problems such as the double ventricular outlet (the one that connects the aorta with the right ventricle), malformations in the walls that separate the chambers of the heart, transposition of the aorta and pulmonary artery, or pulmonary stenosis.
In the most severe cases, dextrocardia is accompanied by an abnormality called situs inversus, which is that some odd organs such as the liver, pancreas or stomach, are on the opposite side to what they should be. A condition that occurs in the strange case of twins in the mirror.
Risk factor's
Although there is no direct cause associated with this congenital anomaly, they have been detected as possible risk factors:
- Family history of the condition
- Mother's diabetes
In addition to these, although the causes of most congenital malformations are unknown, there are related factors such as radiation, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, diseases during pregnancy, infections or medications during pregnancy.
How it is detected
Normally, dextrocardia is diagnosed on a routine prenatal ultrasound, although cannot always be detected, especially if there are no structural abnormalities in the heart.
There are medical tests that allow diagnosing the anomaly such as radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, electrocardiogram and echocardiogram.
Symptoms of dextrocardia
In some cases it is detected during the first months or years of life due to symptoms such as:
- Bluish skin
- Respiratory distress
- Failure to grow and gain weight
- Fatigue
- Jaundice (yellow skin and eyes)
- Pale skin (paleness)
- Repetitive sinus or lung infections
If the baby gets tired easily, is sick frequently and does not gain weight, it is necessary to consult a specialist as it could be a sign of a heart problem.
Treatment
Dextrocardia should be treated if the abnormality prevents vital organs from functioning properly. The type of treatment will depend on the heart or physical problems that the baby may have in addition to dextrocardia.
Pacemakers and surgical interventions to correct interventricular abnormalities can contribute to the heart functioning normally.
