This 8-year-old’s Heart Beats Outside Her Body

Pentalogy of Cantrell or PC is a rare syndrome. It is usually considered to be a lethal anomaly in the human body and is characterized by several birth defects. It is a congenital disorder which means it is present at birth. An eight-year-old girl named Virsaviya has her heart beating outside her body. No matter how unbelievable it sounds, it is true. She came into limelight in the year 2015 when her heart-touching story had gone viral.

She said “This is my heart. I’m the only one that has this. When I’m getting dressed, I put soft clothes on to not hurt my heart. And I just walk around, I jump, I fly, I run. Well I am not supposed to run but I love running.”

When she was born in Russia, medics warned her mother Dari Borun to prepare for the worst. Little Virsaviya’s heart can visibly be seen beating under the thin layer of skin holding it in her body.

According to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information, the full spectrum consists of five anomalies: A deficiency of the anterior diaphragm (muscle separating chest cavity from abdomen, a midline supraumbilical abdominal wall defect, a defect in the diaphragmatic pericardium, various congenital intracardiac abnormalities, and a defect of the lower sternum (breastbone).

Some other names for Pentalogy of Cantrell are Cantrell deformity, Cantrell Pentalogy and Cantrell Syndrome. The survival rate of the complete form of Pentalogy of Cantrell is as low as 20%. However, in some cases, normal growth till 6 years of age has been reported with restorative surgeries.

Source-Medindia