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27-year-old Olesya Kulikova from Our Country experienced many health problems throughout her life and was hospitalized many times due to pneumonia, bronchial asthma and severe abdominal pain. Doctors, however, were not able to diagnose her correctly and help her effectively. The breakthrough came in 2009, when she was 14, and was diagnosed with a rare anomaly.
- Doctors discovered a rare condition in Olesja Kulikowa, which causes a woman’s internal organs to be mirrored
- Initially, it was believed that only Kulikova’s heart was on the other side, but later it turned out that this also applies to the liver and lungs
- The 27-year-old is also affected by Kartagener syndrome, which is hereditary and makes it difficult to remove fluid from the lungs, which is especially problematic in combination with her asthma
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
A rare medical anomaly. He has organs on the wrong side
Doctors, whom Olesya Kulikova visited in 2009, detected an anomaly in her, characterized by a mirror inversion of the basic internal organs. Situs inversus totalis, because we are talking about it, occurs in one in 10. people. Kulikova in an interview with the British “Metro” confessed that the signs of her condition appeared throughout her teenage years, and doctors managed to find the anomaly only when she was 14 years old. During a routine examination, her heart was found to be on the right side. She found out that the liver was lying on the left side when she reached the age of majority, and in 2019 doctors discovered that her lungs were also “turned upside down”.
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«In 2019, I was hospitalized with pneumonia and was told that my lungs were in the ‘mirror’. Every time I undergo a medical examination, I have to explain that my heart is on the right, not on the left, as for all people. I have no tattoos, papers or jewelry to alert doctors if I am unconscious. During electrocardiograms, a test that checks the heart’s rhythm, doctors (I have to tell) to place the electrodes on the right side. Due to this condition, other health problems were difficult to detect. Another genetic disease slipped through the cracks until it was discovered last year » — said in an interview with “Metro” Kulikova.
Mirror image of organs is not the only ailment that plagues a young woman
The disease Kulikova talks about is Kartagener syndrome, diagnosed in 2021, which is hereditary and causes difficulties in removing fluid from the lungs. Due to this condition, the 27-year-old suffered from pneumonia, which, combined with asthma, which also plagued her, caused shortness of breath and constant coughing.
«In April (2022) I went to the hospital because I had a stomach ache and when I told the doctor (about my condition) he suggested it was appendicitis. It turned out to be kidney stones, also known as kidney stones » — she said about another of Kulikov’s diseases.
In order to improve lung function, the woman began going to the gym, which made breathing easier for her. According to the information available to her, the anomaly that plagues her is very little known to medicine, and usually, when doctors find out about it during pregnancy, they recommend fetal abortion.
The 27-year-old is the only person in her family with situs inversus totalis and she has no children at the moment.
I admit that I was ashamed to have situs inversus totalis, but I started blogging and people from different countries wrote to me. Most people often ask questions about my health, and many find me through hashtags where I offer support. Of course, they all hope their children will live happily ever after with this anomaly, and I am convinced that we can lead a normal life.