A baby born with a heart outside of her body went home Thursday with a pink protective casing over her chest, New York Daily News reports Jan. 24.
Three-month-old Audrina Cardenes was delivered with her heart actually on the exterior of her chest in November. The infant who went home from the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, was born with a rare condition known as ectopia cordis. It's a condition in which all or a portion of the heart is outside of the baby's body. It affects just eight in one million babies -- 90 percent of them are either stillborn or die within three days of life.
See photos of baby Audrina Cardenes' heart here.
A surgical team was able to place Audrina's heart inside her chest after a six-hour operation. They had to reconstruct her chest cavity to make room for the vital organ. She was then fit her with a protective shield. Only skin and a small amount of muscle cover Audrina's heart underneath.
Audrina left the medical facility this week and is now home with her family.
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