Rare surgery saves Nigerian woman’s life

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

A long and painful battle with gallbladder stones has ended positively for 39-year-old patient Okoduwa, a medical tourist from Lagos, Nigeria. Okoduwa sought treatment at different hospitals in her home country for abdominal pain but to no avail. She finally decided to travel abroad for further treatment and zeroed in on Dubai’s Medeor Hospital. At the hospital, she underwent an ultrasound test to confirm the presence of gall bladder stones. To the radiologist’s surprise, the ultrasound revealed that Ms. Okoduwa had a rare congenital condition called ‘Situs Inversus Totalis’, in which there is a complete reversal of internal organs.

Situs Inversus Totalis is an extremely rare condition that occurs in 0.01% of the population. In patients with this genetic condition, the organs in the chest and abdomen are found in a mirror image of their normal position. People with this condition often have other abnormalities like congenital heart disorders, lung problems, sinusitis, etc.

Okoduwa’s case is a testament to the high standard of healthcare in the UAE. According to Dr. Jaswant Ahuja, Specialist Radiologist at Medeor Hospital, Dubai, the excellent medical capabilities available in the country enabled them to identify her condition correctly.

“We have made technical advances in sonography like CT and MRI that have helped us identify these anomalies. During the scan, I found transposition of the organs. The liver and gallbladder, normally located on the right side, were seen on the left side of the abdomen. The heart was located on the right side. The condition is called Situs Inversus with Dextrocardia,” said Dr. Ahuja, adding that this is an anomaly that is rarely seen.

Upon learning about the diagnosis for the first time at Medeor Hospital, Okoduwa and her husband, Emmanuel Okoduwa, were amazed. “I have undergone three c-sections in the past. Over the years, I have visited a couple of big hospitals for gall bladder stones. I am surprised that nobody has been able to detect this till we came here,” said an emotional Okoduwa, who feels her husband’s support throughout this trying period has been invaluable.

As medical procedures are designed to be conducted on patients with major organs like the heart and liver on the left side, Okoduwa’s doctors had to modify their approach. According to Dr. Arindam Ghosh, Consultant Gastrointestinal Surgeon, and chief of the surgery department at Medeor Hospital, Dubai, detecting her condition before surgery has been crucial in helping them plan the procedure. The medical team also had to improvise many standard techniques.