When a person is being formed in utero the heart starts out as a tube and it twists and turns to eventually create four chambers, two on the top and two on the bottom. In our daughter's case her heart did not make all the usual twists and ended up looking and functioning a little different.
The two chambers on the top are in the correct position, but the bottom chambers are flip-flopped. And, the big vessels that take blood to the lungs and to the body are attached to the wrong lower chambers. The good news is that in this case two wrongs make a right and she currently has blood flowing in the right direction to all the right places! But, often times this condition can lead to a weak heart, arrythmias and leaky valves if it is not corrected at some point in childhood. In addition, the top chambers and bottom chambers both have small holes in the walls, so some blood swishes back and forth. Also, her heart is located in the right side of her chest and not the left.
As we have learned more about this condition we have been encouraged by stories of adults that never even knew they had the condition until into their 40's or 50's, a college athlete with CCLTGA and even a woman in that discovered her condition in her 80's!
We have heard more stories about children that undergo a major surgery called a Double Switch to correct the condition in childhood and hopefully prevent some complications in adulthood. This will likely be the case for our daughter. When we get home from China we will have her throughouly evaluated by a local pediatric cardiologist to confirm these diagnoses and develop a plan for a heart healthy future.
Here is a picture of her condition...
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