Dextrocardia: a brief description

Among all the vices of the cardiovascular system: dextrocardia occupies a special place. This anomaly either goes unnoticed for many years( sometimes all life), or - leads to death immediately after birth. Everything depends on its combination with the mirror arrangement of the internal organs.

The normal structure of the cardiovascular system

The cardiovascular system of man includes two main components:

• Heart. Central authority. Provides blood flow through the vessels.
• Vessels. Hollow tubular organs through which blood flows.

Heart. Its length varies between 10-15 cm. The base has a width of 8 to 10 cm. While the upper part is not wider than 6-7 cm. The weight of the adult organ is 250-300 grams( in men it is larger than in women).And not less than 1/3 of it falls on the left ventricle. Since it carries the greatest burden among other parts of the heart and has the most developed muscle layer.

Every day the heart reduces about 86 thousand times a day at an average frequency of 60-90 beats per minute. This ensures continuous blood circulation throughout the body.

Vessels. In accordance with the principle of directional movement of blood, all blood vessels are divided into arterial( carry blood from the heart) and venous carry blood to the heart).The number and caliber of blood vessels vary greatly: from a few centimeters( in the aorta) to micrometers( at the capillaries).

Since the human cardiovascular system is closed, the schematic arrangement of the vessels can be represented as the following chain:

1. of the Aorta.
2. Artery.
3. Arteriol.
4. Precapile.
5. Capillary.
6. Postcapillary.
7. of Venula.
8. Vienna.
9. Hollow veins. The largest vessels, venous type. They bring blood to the heart.

For the most part, the structure of veins and arteries is also different. The first are vessels of the so-called capacitive type. They have a greater ability to stretch due to a weaker( in comparison with the arteries) development of the muscle layer. Also, the veins are equipped with valves, which provides a unilateral flow of blood. An exception is the small circle of blood circulation. But about this below.

Circles of blood circulation ensure the distribution of blood throughout the body. Here it is necessary to remind that according to the oxygen content all the blood is divided into two groups.

• Arterial. It is rich in oxygen atoms. As a rule, it moves from the heart( exception - the vessels of the small circle of blood circulation).
• Venous. Poor in oxygen.

The human circulatory system is closed. And for the uninterrupted supply of oxygen and nutrients to the body, there are two circles of blood circulation.

• Small circle of blood circulation. Its main purpose is to saturate the blood with oxygen. It starts from the right ventricle, from where the blood through the pulmonary artery( although it carries venous blood) goes to the lungs. Here the artery branched up to the capillaries and thickly braids the broncho-pulmonary system. Thanks to which gas exchange takes place. Then the blood through the pulmonary vein goes to the left atrium.
• The large circle of blood circulation provides blood flow throughout the body. It starts from the left ventricle from where the arterial blood goes into the aorta. From her blood moves through smaller vessels and provides the supply of the whole organism. After this, it passes through the system of hollow veins into the right atrium.

Dextrocardia

This is important! The heart defect in the full mirror of the heart is called dextrocardia. It looks like this: the right parts of the heart, as it were, change roles with the left. There are three possible options for the further development of man.

Isolated dextrocardia leads to the fact that the right divisions serve as the left circulation. The right ventricle is the largest due to a significant development of the muscular wall. In this case, the pulmonary artery emerges from it.

In the left ventricle, on the other hand, hollow veins flow into the left ventricle. Accordingly, from the left ventricle, which has the structure of the right ventricle in a healthy heart, the aorta emerges.

During intrauterine development this situation practically does not affect the baby, so his blood circulation largely depends on the mother. But in the last months the dilatation of the left divisions may begin. At birth, it reaches a considerable size, which leads to early death. The fact is that the left ventricle and the atrium are arranged as well as the right sections of the normal heart. But carry out the burden of the left divisions. This leads to their quick "wear".

Dextrocardia of the heart without vascular dislocation. Deadly version. During intrauterine development, only fetal hypotrophy can be observed, since gas exchange occurs in the placenta. But right after birth, a child dies, because he is not capable of independent life. Arterial blood flows through the pulmonary artery, and the venous blood enters the large circle of blood circulation. But since the veins have valves, and the liver and all the other unpaired organs are located on normal places for normal human blood flow is experiencing a severe difficulty.

Dextrocardia with a mirror arrangement of internal organs and vessels. Because of this, all internal organs are mirror-like compared to an ordinary person. This option is absolutely the same as it does not manifest itself throughout life.