title: Immediate operation for ectopia cordis.
abstract: Forty-one infants with thoracoabdominal ectopia cordis have been reported to date; 9 of them survived. Among the patients with an omphalocele as the abdominal wall defect, however, only 2 survived. Death in this group of patients occurred almost exclusively as a consequence of either attempted coverage of the heart or secondary to the associated intracardiac lesion. We report here the case of a patient recently treated in whom coverage with a temporary Silastic prosthesis protected the exposed heart from infection and rupture of the sac, thus permitting full cardiac investigation before operation.
mesh_terms: D000009:Abdominal Muscles / Q000601:surgery; D000367:Age Factors; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000473:pathology; D006554:Hernia, Umbilical / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011664:Pulmonary Valve / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology; D012826:Silicone Elastomers; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013526:Surgical Mesh
chemical_list: D012826:Silicone Elastomers