NEW DELHI, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - Indian surgeons have successfully carried out a life saving operation for the first time on a 10-day-old baby boy, diagnosed with a fatal heart defect, a hospital spokesman said on Thursday.
The newborn Indian boy was suffering with a rare defect, ectopia cordis, a condition where the heart beats outside the chest. During the four-hour operation, surgeons created a space for the baby's heart, Yogendra Gupta said.
"As there was no place for the baby's heart in his chest, we had to create it," he said.
Doctors at New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences are closely monitoring the newborn's progress and will make a decision on whether further surgery is required.
"It would be great if the baby lived for 10 days at least. It would be a record," Gupta said, adding "the success of the surgery demonstrates the high professional level of Indian doctors".
Ectopia cordis is an extremely rare congenital defect that affects approximately 8 in every million births where babies are born with a misplaced heart. However, 90% of babies die before they are born or within three days.
The only person who survived with the condition is Christopher Wall, 34, from the U.S. He holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest living person with such a defect. Wall underwent 15 operations before his heart was successfully placed into his chest.
