Man with rare condition gets double valve replacement

O. Nagaraj, who has dextrocardia, with his wife Theivani, at GH — Photo: M. Vedhan

O. Nagaraj from Vellore has his heart on the right side, his liver on the left and his spleen on the right — the exact opposite of where the organs should be.

The 38-year-old labourer was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (GH) in February this year. Doctors found he had dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis — a condition in which the major organs are a mirror image of the normal.

The rare condition occurs in about 1 in 50,000 persons, said doctors at GH, and can go completely undetected.

But Mr. Nagaraj also had damage in two of his valves — the mitral and the aortic — due to an early rheumatic heart ailment, and both valves needed to be replaced.

For the doctors at GH, this was a complex and tricky procedure. The surgery was performed on May 8.

“Since the anatomy was different, we did the operation slowly, taking our time and managed to replace both valves successfully,” said B. Mariappan, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the hospital.

Additionally, Mr. Nagaraj had an irregular heartbeat, which too had to be treated.

Dr. Mariappan said this could well be the first reported case of a double valve replacement in a patient with this condition in the country.

“For the past three years, Nagaraj has not been well. He’s had breathlessness, and not been able to eat or work properly,” said his wife, Theivani, who makes beedis.

Now, however, over three months after the surgery, Mr. Nagaraj is doing well. He still has to come for follow-up treatment to the hospital, but his health condition is good, said doctors.