Heterotaxy syndrome in an adult, with polysplenia, visceral and cardiovascular malposition

Abstract

A rare case of an asymptomatic heterotaxy syndrome associated with dextrocardia is presented in a 45-year-old woman. This anomaly was incidentally discovered on computed tomography and ultrasound of the upper abdomen. Besides the presence of multiple abnormally positioned spleens, right-sided stomach, left-sided liver, short pancreas and venous anomalies, like interrupted left-sided inferior vena cava with azygos continuation, and dextrocardia were seen. Although cardiac abnormalities are frequently associated with heterotaxy syndromes with polysplenia in children, this is far less frequent in adults because of early decease in children with cardiac abnormalities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the third reported case of heterotaxy with polysplenia associated with dextrocardia in an asymptomatic adult patient.