ectopia

Ectopia is a medical term used to describe the abnormal location of an organ, tissue, or structure within the body. From Greek ek (“out of”) and topos (“place”), it signifies displacement from the organ’s normal site. The condition can be congenital (present at birth) or acquired later in life due to injury, disease, or surgical alteration, and it is often described with a specific compound name for the displaced structure.

Common examples include ectopia cordis, in which the heart lies outside the thoracic cavity, and ectopia lentis, the displacement or subluxation of the crystalline lens of the eye, which can occur in connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome or homocystinuria. Ectopia occurs in dentistry as ectopic eruption of teeth, where a tooth develops or erupts in an abnormal position, and other organ-specific forms are described in medical literature.

In clinical usage, the adjective ectopic is often used for conditions where a structure is out of place, as in ectopic pregnancy. Ectopia describes the state of displaced tissue itself.

Diagnosis relies on clinical examination and imaging studies appropriate to the organ involved (for example ultrasound or MRI for internal organs, and ocular examinations for eye-related ectopia). Management depends on severity and associated anomalies, and may involve observation, medical therapy, or surgical correction; prognosis is variable and often related to the underlying condition and whether critical structures are affected.

See also: ectopic pregnancy and heterotopia.