Situs solitus refers to the normal

Normal

Normal may refer to:* Normality , conformance to an average* Norm , social norms, expected patterns of behavior studied within the context of sociology* Normal distribution , the Gaussian continuous probability distribution...

 position of thoracic and abdominal organs. Anatomically

Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

, this means that the heart

Heart

The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...

 is on the left with the pulmonary atrium

Right atrium

The right atrium is one of four chambers in the hearts of mammals and archosaurs...

 on the right and the systemic atrium

Left atrium

The left atrium is one of the four chambers in the human heart. It receives oxygenated blood from the pulmonary veins, and pumps it into the left ventricle, via the mitral valve.-Foramen ovale:...

 on the left along with the cardiac apex. Right-sided organs are the liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

, the gall bladder and a trilobed lung

Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...

 as well as the inferior vena cava

Inferior vena cava

The inferior vena cava , also known as the posterior vena cava, is the large vein that carries de-oxygenated blood from the lower half of the body into the right atrium of the heart....

, while left-sided organs are the stomach

Stomach

The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...

, single spleen

Spleen

The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune system. In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock...

, a bilobed lung, and the aorta

Aorta

The aorta is the largest artery in the body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it branches off into two smaller arteries...

.

Variants on the normal picture are relatively uncommon. Complete reversal of all organs is known as situs inversus

Situs inversus

Situs inversus is a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. The normal arrangement is known as situs solitus...

, while reversal of some organs but not others is called situs ambiguus

Situs ambiguus

Situs ambiguus or situs ambiguous , also known as heterotaxy, is a rare congenital defect in which the major visceral organs are distributed abnormally within the chest and abdomen.The normal position of the organs is known as situs solitus; situs inversus is a condition in which the usual...

 or heterotaxy. Isolated reversal of the heart with normally-patterned viscera otherwise is termed dextrocardia

Dextrocardia

Dextrocardia is a congenital defect in which the heart is situated on the right side of the body. There are two main types of dextrocardia: dextrocardia of embryonic arrest and dextrocardia situs inversus...

.

See also

• Situs inversus
  Situs inversus
  Situs inversus is a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. The normal arrangement is known as situs solitus...
  
  
• Situs ambiguus
  Situs ambiguus
  Situs ambiguus or situs ambiguous , also known as heterotaxy, is a rare congenital defect in which the major visceral organs are distributed abnormally within the chest and abdomen.The normal position of the organs is known as situs solitus; situs inversus is a condition in which the usual...
  
  
• Chirality (mathematics)
  Chirality (mathematics)
  In geometry, a figure is chiral if it is not identical to its mirror image, or, more precisely, if it cannot be mapped to its mirror image by rotations and translations alone. For example, a right shoe is different from a left shoe, and clockwise is different from counterclockwise.A chiral object...