Woman who donated her body to science didn't know her organs were in the wrong places


Students at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland made a surprising discovery during their gross anatomy class last spring.
As part of the class, students opened up cadavers in order to get a closer look at the organs. When students opened the chest cavity of Rose Marie Bentley, a woman who died at age 99 of natural causes, they noticed the blood vessels looked odd. When the time came to examine her abdominal cavity, they discovered the "organs of the digestive tract ... were transposed entirely right to left," Prof. Cameron Walker told USA Today. "I'd never seen this before and the students were every bit as fascinated."
Bentley, it turned out, had a rare condition called situs inversus with levocardia. Her heart was in the correct spot, but other organs, including her liver and spleen, were in the opposite locations from where they should have been. It's believed that Bentley is the oldest person to ever have had the condition, which happens in roughly 1 in every 22,000 births.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are only two documented cases of people with situs inversus making it to their 70s, and Walker estimates only 1 in 50 million people born with the condition live to see adulthood. Bentley's family said when she had her appendix removed, the doctor noted that it was in the wrong spot but didn't actually tell her that. Bentley's daughter, Louise Allee, told USA Today her mom "would think this was so cool. She would be tickled pink that she could teach something like this. She would probably get a big smile on her face, knowing that she was different, but made it through."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Has Israel’s Qatar strike scuppered a ceasefire?
Today’s Big Question Netanyahu ‘gambles’ on ‘overwhelming strength’ rather than diplomacy in attack on Hamas negotiation team in Doha
-
Deaf Republic: ‘an experimental epic of war and resistance’
The Week Recommends Ukrainian-American writer Ilya Kaminsky’s poetry collection is brought to the stage in this ‘enthralling’ production
-
The Week US subscriptions FAQ
How to manage your subscription, get digital access, enquire about delivery problems and renew gift subscriptions
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th test
speed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Colorado
speed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's study
Speed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-off
Speed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet undersea
Speed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition