A rare, congenital, non-syndromic, developmental defect during embryogenesis characterized by positioning of the heart in the right hemithorax, with the base and apex of the heart pointing caudally and to the right, due to abnormalities of embryologic origin that are intrinsic to the heart itself. Situs inversus or situs solitus may be associated, with extracardiac visceral transposition anomalies usually present in the former case and additional cardiac defects (e.g. septal defects, transposition of the great arteries, double-outlet right ventricles, anomalous pulmonary venous return, tetralogy of Fallot) frequently observed in both cases.
A 24-year-old male pedestrian with situs inversus and dextrocardia was struck by a car and sustained multiple injuries, including a pseudoaneurysm of the proximal descending thoracic aorta.