Multi-talented star of the stage and screen Stacey Maxon was born with all her organs in the wrong place.
Stacey Maxon is a known case of situs inversus, a very rare condition in which all her organs are flipped and reversed. However, the condition is not life-threatening and causes no health issues. It's usually detected prenatally or at birth during examination and confirmed by a cardiologist, x-ray or other imaging studies.
According to the U.S Library of Medicine, an affected individual can be perfectly healthy, and live a normal life with no symptoms or discomfort.
In situs inversus, the heart is flipped and set on the right side, the lungs are flipped, the liver is on the left side, the stomach is on the right side, and other internal structures are reversed. Arteries and blood vessels are also transposed.
Amazingly, the organs function normally and blood still gets to the right places, through the wrong connections.
It's puzzling, fascinating and occurs in just 0.01 percent of all people.
The condition may cause confusion in medical care, doctors may need to be informed so to work in the opposite ways or redirect their search for heart sounds etc.
Situs inversus is uncommon and rarely runs in families. It most likely happens by accident during development, occurring in an individual for the first time.
Understanding how our bodies differentiate right from left and the significance behind such a preference, many scientists believe the condition holds clues.
Authors have explored the implications of situs inversus, understandably so: it makes for a cracking plot twist.