A three-month old baby born with her heart outside her body will
finally leave the hospital on Thursday with the vital organ safely back
in her chest.
Audrina Cardenes was born with a rare and normally fatal condition
called ectopia cordis, in which all or part of the heart is outside the
body.
Audrina’s heart was fully outside her body when she was born, a rare, and usually deadly condition.
A skilled team of surgeons at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston
operated on Audrina’s strong but exposed heart in November, and new
photos from the procedure released Thursday show her heart “shield.”
Audrina’s mother, Ashley Cardenas, was a fixture at the hospital.
She will now be able to take her daughter home, officials said Thursday.
“Only eight out of 1 million babies are born with ectopia cordis, and
90 percent of these babies are either stillborn or die within the first
3 days of life,” the hospital’s official
blog said after Audrina’s surgery.
Two months after her operation to place her heart back inside her
chest, the baby is now ready to leave the hospital and go home with her
family.
Baby Audrina with her heart shield.
“Audrina is a true fighter and we are hopeful that she will continue
to progress,” Audrina’s surgeon, Dr. Charles D. Fraser, said shortly
after the risky operation. “I am also hopeful that Audrina’s case marks
the beginning of our ability to care for more children diagnosed with
ectopia cordis in the future.”
Baby Audrina gets company from her older siblings as she recovers.
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Huffington Post
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