Humara system ulta hai, says UP man with rare defect

LUCKNOW: It took Jamaluddin Ansari 43 years to know the biggest secret of his anatomy. And its revelation left both Ansari and his doctor in a state of shock.


A chance medical examination revealed that all of Ansari’s organs are inversely positioned in his body against their usual position in a human body.

“Humara system sab ulta pulta hai (All of my internal system is wrongly placed),” says the 43-year-old government employee from Padrauna, Kushinagar.

The human heart is more towards the left side but in Ansari’s case it’s on the right. His liver and gallbladder are on the left side instead of right. Spleen is on the right side and appendix on the left.

Doctors say it is a congenital defect, known as Situs Invertus Totalis , where internal organs are inversely placed and appear as mirror image. As per several researches conducted on the subject, the condition was first described by Italian anatomist surgeon Marco Aurelio in 1643.

It was by chance that Ansari learnt about his “weird and rare” medical condition. On September 16, Ansari had pain on left side of stomach. He went to a physician in Kushinagar who prescribed an x-ray. “My x-ray result showed I had gallbladder stones. But it also showed that my gallbladder was on the left side instead of right. The doctor referred me to a surgeon for stone removal in Gorakhpur,” said Ansari who is in sugarcane department.

This is when Ansari met laparoscopic and bariatric surgeon Dr Shashikant Dixit in Gorakhpur. Explaining the rare condition, Dr Dixit said, “Ansari’s organs are in mirror image of the actual positions for them in a human body. It is a rare condition which makes diagnosis tricky. Such patients are at the risk of a heart condition. But if they suffer a heart attack they will complain of pain on the right side. This leads to confusion and errors in diagnosis if the congenital condition is not known.”

“I was shocked initially, but what can one do when there is a birth defect. I read about it and then made peace with it,” said Ansari. “My family members also panicked initially but now they have also come to terms with my condition,” he added.