Cardiac situs and versions and positions (24)

There are three possible arrangements:

• Solitus (normal)
• Inversus (mirror image of normal), and
• Ambiguous (not clearly solitus or inversus). Here the thoracic and abdominal organs cannot be lateralized and have neither the normal nor mirror image arrangement.

CARDIAC ORIENTATION-Relationship or axis of the base to the apex of the heart

Levocardia is defined as a normal cardiac position with the cardiac base-to-apex axis pointing from upper right to lower left.

Dextrocardia refers to a heart with the base-to-apex axis pointing from the upper left to the lower right.

Mesocardia refers to a heart that is usually in the midline with the base-to-apex axis directly from superior to inferior.

So, the normal arrangement is Situs Solitus with Levocardia
And the mirror image of it is called Situs Inversus with Dextrocardia

LAST 3 POINTS ( most important ones actually )

1) The normal arrangement is Situs Solitus with Levocardia
And the mirror image of it is called Situs Inversus with Dextrocardia

2) Situs solitus with dextrocardia is termed "dextroversion" and situs inversus with levocardia is called "levoversion".

3) In "Dextroposition", axis of the heart is normal but heart is located in the right chest due right lung hypoplasia or collapse (which pulls the heart) or a pathology in the left chest which pushes the heart to the right.