Thoracic ectopia cordis

Abstract

Ectopia cordis is defined as complete or partial displacement of the heart outside the thoracic cavity. It is a rare congenital defect in fusion of the anterior chest wall resulting in extra thoracic location of the heart. Its estimated prevalence is 5.5-7.9 per million live births. The authors had one such case of a 15-h-old full-term male neonate weighing 2.25 kg with an externally visible, beating heart over the chest wall. The neonate had diffi culty in respiration with peripheral cyanosis. Patient died of cardiorespiratory arrest before any surgical intervention could be undertaken inspite of best possible resuscitative measures. Copyright 2012 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.