HEART OUT OF PLACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14525, 12 November 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

HEART OUT OF PLACE.

CURIOUS DISCOVERY.

Quite by accident it was discovered that a woman patient at St. Marys Hospital, London, is in the curious position of having her heart on the wrong eide of her body. The condition was discovered on her applying at the hospital for treatment for dizziness. On examination it was found that she was suffering from a large aneurism of the main vessel leading from the heart, as well as a smaller aneurism of the carotid artery of the neck. To determine the extent of the aneurism in the chest an X-rays photograph was taken, which showed that the heart, instead of being in its normal position, was on the right side of the body. Over the usual • heart area, where ordinarily one can see and feel the heart beat, there is perfect resonance on percussion (tapping with the, fingers) showing that instead of solid heart substance underlying, the lungs have filled up the heart's accustomed .space. On the right side of the breast-bone, just where the X-rays photograph shows the heart to be, the heart-beat is plainly vieible. A curious feature of the case is that although the patient was treated for aneurism 25 years ago the displacement of the heart was only discovered recently. Despite the pave nature of her arterial disease, the patient has enjoyed ordinary good health most of her life, and w in no way upset by the fact that her .heart is m a different position from that I ot ordinary mortals. ;