25 Unusual Facts About Rose Marie Bentley: A Medical Mystery

The medical condition Bentley was discovered to have had is called “situs inversus with levocardia.” Even the name sounds very rare.

Bentley had the majority of her major organs in the wrong places. However, despite this, she lived to be almost a hundred years old.

The medical students studying her body at the University of Portland noticed that the blood vessels and major organs were abnormally large.

The condition called situs inversus affects only one out of 10,000-22,000 births. There are not high mortality rates for this condition.

If you are one of the few that are born with this, you have a chance of 1 in 50 million surviving to adulthood.

The average age at death for someone with this rare medical condition is five years old. Bentley survived to almost 100.

Scientists are aware of only two other cases where the patient reached the age of 70. And before that second documented case, the oldest lived to 13.

Bentley lived to be 99 years old. At the time of her death, she had lived to be the oldest person with her condition.

Aside from arthritis as she aged, her family reported that she had no real major health issues.

Doctors reported that despite the Inferior Vena Cava, a major vein in the heart, being in the wrong place, her heart was in good condition.

Doctors believe that despite most of her organs being in the wrong place, her longevity may be explained by the healthy condition of her heart overall.

Bentley’s daughters told reporters that she was always doing activities with the family and that she was an excellent swimmer.

Bentley died never aware that she had this very rare condition likely because she never showed any signs of physical distress due to it.

She had had three surgeries, but only the doctor who removed her spleen and wanted to also remove her appendix and couldn’t find it eventually noted its atypical location in her body.

Bentley and her husband decided to leave their bodies to science after reading a moving poem about organ donation.

Had Bentley not donated her body to science, her medical mystery would have never been discovered.

There have only been two reports of anyone else with “situs inversus with levocardia” living to be 70 years old.

Bentley taught Sunday school and sang in the church choir for many years.

Bentley loved animals. Her husband and she ran a pet store for many years.

She was also a former hairdresser, campfire leader and volunteered as a nurse during WWII.

Bentley and her husband traveled to all 50 states during their marriage.

Bentley farmed a garden to help supplement her family’s meals. She truly was a remarkable woman.

Bentley had outlived her husband by 13 years. He died at the age of 86.

Bentley had five children, 14 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

Rose Marie Bentley donated her body to science and proved that her heart was definitely in the right place.