Although cardiac problems are more common, many people with situs inversus have no medical symptoms or complications resulting from the condition, and until the advent of modern medicine, it was usually undiagnosed.

There is a 5–10% prevalence of congenital heart disease in individuals with situs inversus totalis, most commonly transposition of the great vessels.

[citation needed] Many people with situs inversus totalis are unaware of their unusual anatomy until they seek medical attention for an unrelated condition, such as a rib fracture or a bout of appendicitis.

For example, if an individual with situs inversus develops appendicitis, they will present to the physician with lower left abdominal pain, since that is where their appendix lies.

Wearing a medical identification tag can help inform health care providers in the event the person is unable to communicate.

Situs inversus is generally an autosomal recessive genetic condition, although it can be X-linked or found in identical "mirror image" twins.

[citation needed] A marked increase in cases was observed several months after the lifting of the zero-COVID-19 policy in China, which coincided with a rise in SARS-CoV-2 infections.

This rare clinical evidence suggests a possible link between infection during pregnancy and the development of situs inversus in the fetus, specifically during gestational weeks 4–6, the critical period for organ positioning.

Situs inversus of the optic disc may occur unilaterally or bilaterally, associated with reduced binocularity and stereoacuity resembling monofixation syndrome.

It is characterized by emergence of the retinal vessels in an anomalous direction (from the nasal rather than the temporal aspect) with dysversion (tilt) of the optic disc.

[10][11] Dextrocardia (the heart being located on the right side of the thorax) was seen and drawn by Leonardo da Vinci,[citation needed] and then recognised by Marco Aurelio Severino in 1643.