A 60-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) last month became the first patient in Asia to receive a successful heart transplant to treat dextrocardia situs inversus totalis, and only the sixth in the world to undergo such treatment.
Dextrocardia is a congenital defect in which the heart is located in the right side of the body, Tri-Service General Hospital Surgery Department director Tsai Chien-sung (蔡健松) said.
Dextrocardia situs inversus totalis is a condition in which all visceral organs are “mirrored,” or located on the opposite side of their normal location.
Photo: Wei Yi-chia, Taipei Times
Tseng was discharged yesterday after a month’s hospitalization.
Tseng said that in her six decades, she has not been hospitalized very often and only knew that her heart was “slightly different” from other people’s.
Between the 22nd and 23rd day of embryonic development, the heart usually slants to the right, but then normally slants back to the left between the 32nd and 34th day, Tsai said. However, if the tip of the heart does not slant back to the left, it results in dextrocardia.
Depending on the location — whether the heart is merely slanting right or whether it is mirrored — dextrocardia can be divided into dextrocardia of embryonic arrest and dextrocardia situs inversus respectively, Tsai said.
Dextrocardia occurs in one in 10,000 births, and the chance of being born with dextrocardia situs inversus totalis is about one in 1 billion, Tsai said.
Tsai also said that dextrocardia is not believed to be passed down genetically.
However, if one family member has dextrocardia — or if one of the parents have the condition — the chances of being born with the condition is between 2 percent and 4 percent, roughly about the chance of developing congenital heart diseases, Tsai said.
Heart transplants for people with dextrocardia situs inversus totalis are very difficult because all the major blood vessels are also mirrored, Tsai said, adding that transplant surgeries requires the inversion of the transplanted organ — if it were from someone with a normal heart placement — in the chest cavity, then reconnecting all the major blood vessels.
Tsai said that he had to leave a longer length of blood vessels during the surgery considering that the blood vessels had a longer distance to connect, adding that when connecting the blood vessels, he had to take precautions to leave enough space for the main artery, the pulmonary artery and the superior vena cava.
All three had to be in the same space, Tsai said, adding that care had to be taken that the blood flow could adequately pass through the blood vessels.
There had been incidences of blood vessels becoming entangled, impeding blood flow into the heart and causing the surgery to fail, Tsai said.
The hospital took the matter very seriously and held many meetings over the surgery, Tsai said, adding that he had also been in constant contact with his mentor, Wei Cheng (魏崢), the head of Cheng Hsin General Hospital’s Department of Cardiology.
Tsai said documentation over the past two decades showed that there had only been five cases of heart transplants for patients with dextrocardia situs inversus totalis worldwide, with one in Belgium who had survived, and two cases in Asia — both of whom had died soon after the surgery.
“Tseng was the first successful case in Asia, as well as the sixth in the world with her condition to have received a heart transplant,” Tsai said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS