Woman with heart, liver on opposite side leads normal life

BELAGAVI: Savita Chougule, a resident of Tilakwadi here, has a medical condition – her crucial organs like heart, liver and spleen are on the opposite side to where they’re usually located. In a normal person, the heart is on the left side of the chest, liver and appendix on the right side of the abdominal cavity, etc. but in Savitha’s case, the positions of these organs are mirror imaged in a condition called situs inversus.

Savita, 42, has come forward to help the medical fraternity to study the condition. Savita, who is married and has a 12 years old son, has been living a normal life. “I don’t feel any problems because of the unusual positioning of my organs like heart and liver. I do my day-to-day work quite normally. I was initially scared when the condition was noticed Dr Mahantesh Ramannavar and his team reassured me,”Savita said.

She came to know about her condition in 2011. Recently, she attended a programme about body and organ donation organized by Lions Club. Anatomist Dr Mahantesh Ramannavar, a professor of KLE BMK Ayurved College, Belagavi, who became well-known for dissecting his father’s body for research, was the chief guest. After the programme, she approached him and told him about her condition. Dr Ramannavar, along with assistant prof. Dr Vishwanath Wasedar and their students, told Savita that she shouldn’t worry about it .


According to Dr Ramannavar, there are many cases of dextrocardia (only heart on the reverse side) but dextrocardia with situs inversus is rare. This condition results from abnormal positioning of the internal organs during fatal development. More than 60 known genes are important for proper positioning and pattering of organs in the body. However, a specific genetic cause of dextrocardia with inversus has not been identified and inheritance patterns have not been confirmed in most cases. The condition is seen equally in both sexes.

People have dextrocardia with situs inversus as part of an underlying condition called primary ciliary dyskinesia which can result from changes (mutations) in several different genes. According to Dr Sanjeev Kaulagi, head of the anatomy department at S Nijaligappa Medical Collage, Bagalkot, such cases are rare and the occurrence is one in around 2 lakh people. He said these cases should be studied thoroughly. “These are miracles of nature,” said Dr Shridhar Holla of SDM Ayurved Collage, Udupi.

Similar case 45 years ago

There was a similar case 45 years ago and it was noticed while dissecting the body of a 22-years-old boy at JN Medical Collage, Belagavi. This body has been kept in the museum of the anatomy department at the collage. Anatomist Dr MH Inamdar, who dissected the body in 1970 and is still teaching in the same collage, said he was astonished when he noticed the condition. “I stopped the dissection immediately and informed students and professors. Such cases are very rare. I’ve done hundreds of dissections but have never seen such a case, “he said.

Know more:

1) Dextrocardia with situs inversus is a very rare condition but doesn’t hamper lifestyle.

2) When persons with such condition consult doctors, they should inform them about the condition.

3) Most people with situs inversus have no medical symptoms or complications, although they should wear a medical identification tag to alert emergency medical staff.

4) Such rare conditions are noticed accidently while patient goes for routine investigation.