FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VANELLOPE
1 BORN WITH HER HEART ON THE OUTSIDE
A British baby born with a rare condition has survived three surgeries to place her heart inside her chest. Vanellope Hope, named for a Disney character, was born on Nov. 22 with her heart growing on the outside of her body. Her parents were told she had a less than 10 per cent chance at survival. The unusual condition is called ectopia cordis.
2 DELIVERED INTO A STERILE PLASTIC BAG
The baby’s parents, Naomi Findlay, 31, and Dean Wilkins, 43, of Nottingham, knew after a scan at nine weeks that their baby’s heart and a part of the stomach was growing externally. They were told the baby may die in the womb or soon after birth. Findlay said she did not consider terminating the pregnancy. When the baby was born by caesarean section, she was immediately wrapped in a sterile plastic bag to keep her organs sterile and the tissue moist.
3 OPERATED ON BY A TEAM OF FIFTY
Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, England, assembled a team of 50 obstetricians, surgeons, anesthetists and midwives to perform the operation 50 minutes after Vanellope’s birth. The team knew that other physicians had tried to perform the same procedure at intervals of roughly two to three years, but none had been successful in Britain.
4 BORN WITHOUT A BREASTBONE
Dr. Frances Bu’Lock, a consultant in fetal cardiology, told the BBC that the procedure was “touch and go.” The baby was born without a breast bone, Bu’Lock said, and physicians are planning to create some form of artificial sternum at a later stage. After three operations, the infant’s heart, which had protruded through a hole in her chest, is now in her body and covered by her own skin.
5 FIRST TIME ON A NEWBORN BABY
The surgery was said to be the first successful procedure of its kind performed on a newborn child in Britain, although a few comparable cases have been reported in the United States.