United States: A team of English surgeons and attendants arrived in Leicester last Wednesday to hear about a surgical operation that was completely new to the medical history of the nation.
British medical history recorded Vanellope Wilkins as the only living case of ectopia cordis since she survived this rare condition with her heart situated outside her body.
The 9-hour medical procedure required surgeons to reconstruct Vanellope’s heart-defense cage through rib reformations within a protective system that they created specifically for her medical needs yet had never been performed on any patient before.
Vanellope’s Early Struggles with Rare Condition
The child spent her first 14 months of life within a specialized intensive neonatal care setting after she was born in November 2017.
Due to her extensive medical needs, the child shows signs of autism as well as being nonverbal.
The BBC obtained graphic photos of Vanellope, who displays her open heart because the organ became stuck developing and then attached to her external skin.
Child Born with Heart Outside Chest Becomes Solitary Survivor Thanks to Surgical Procedure Invented for Her!https://t.co/jcDFOAFS1R
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According to Dr. Patwardhan, on the morning of the surgery, “I’d lie if I said I don’t get nervous.”
“But having been in this profession for so many years, you actually look forward to it because, at the end of the day, you’re doing something that will change somebody’s life,” BBC News reported.
Groundbreaking 9-Hour Surgery
Ectopia cordis affects only a few babies per million births, resulting in low survival rates; thus, Vanellope needed urgent life-saving surgery because 50 medical professionals were essential to perform the procedure.
Consultant pediatric surgeon Nitin Patwardhan witnessed the birth, and he joined the team that recently attached Vanellope’s heart behind her chest bone.
Doctors in the US have recorded several cases of this survival while Vanellope has reached 7 years of age, and doctors determined her body is ready for a lasting solution to her healthcare predicament.