Thursday, January 24, 2013

Brave heart: Baby born with heart outside her body leaves hospital after miracle surgery (See Photos)

A happy, strong and recovering Audrina decked out in a bow and heart shield to protect the vital organ.
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.
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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.”


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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.
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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.”
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Baby Audrina gets company from her older siblings as she recovers.

- Huffington Post

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