What precautions should this patient take given his diagnosis of situs inversus?

Last week a 12-year-old boy came to the doctor’s office complaining of severe abdominal pains and nausea. He was diagnosed with appendicitis, requiring the removal of his appendix. The boy’s medical chart indicates that he was diagnosed with situs inversus, a condition in which the organs of the thoracic and abdominal cavities are reversed from left to right. He has returned to the office for suture removal and bandage change.

Situs inversus is associated with kartagener’s syndrome. In this syndrome the patient has immotile cilia which will increase his possibility of getting lung infections. So he is more likely to get pneumonia, bronchiectasis and recurrent sinusitis. Patient should take whatever precautions necessary to decrease the chances of respiratory tract infections. Perhaps this is an indication for vaccines like pneumovax (although spleenectomy is probably a better scenario for pneumovax). Also in kartagener’s the boy will be sterile (immotile sperm).
Hope that answers your question, let me know if you need info.

Adventures in the Genomics of Inflammation – Dan Kastner, MD Ph.D.

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