How is dextrocardia diagnosed?

How is dextrocardia diagnosed?

Dextrocardia may be diagnosed during pregnancy through prenatal ultrasound. But your child may need imaging tests later to confirm. Children without symptomatic heart defects or genetic syndromes may not be diagnosed with dextrocardia until years later.

A physical exam might diagnose dextrocardia. Your healthcare provider uses a stethoscope to listen to your heart or your child’s heart. A noticeable heartbeat on the right side of the chest can be a sign of dextrocardia.

Tests to diagnose dextrocardia

Tests that diagnose dextrocardia include:

• Chest X-ray.
• CT scan.
• Echocardiogram (echo).
• Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG).
• Heart MRI.

Your provider may recommend genetic testing and other tests to check for syndromes.

Dextrocardia ECG reading

An electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) reading can show if you have dextrocardia. ECG tests create a picture of your heart’s electrical activity, which has a normal graph when the heart is in its normal location on the left. The graph will look different than usual if your heart’s location is unusual — as is the case with dextrocardia (the right side of your chest).

ECG graphs follow predictable patterns. You might hear your provider talk about the three waves of electrical activity. These are the bumps and spiky points on each line of the graph. The first small bump is called the “P wave.” It shows your heart’s pacemaker, or the electrical signal that tells your heart to beat. Next, there’s a sharp spike called the “QRS complex." This shows your strongest heartbeat as your left ventricle pushes blood out to your body. The “T wave” shows your heart’s brief relaxation before the next heartbeat.

Dextrocardia causes ECG readings with waves that are flipped in the opposite direction. The P wave, QRS complex and T wave point downward rather than upward. This could happen if the ECG electrodes are in the wrong spots. So sometimes the provider giving the test may run it again to make sure the reading is accurate. But if this “different” ECG comes up again, it can signal dextrocardia.

Ask your provider to discuss your or your child’s ECG reading with you and explain what it means.