A Case of Prenatal Ultrasonic Diagnosis of Extrathoracic Ectopia Cordis / 대한주산의학회잡지

ABSTRACT

Ectopia cordis is a rare congenital anomaly in which the heart is situated outside the chest cavity and has been known for many years, being reported first in 1671 by Neil Stenson. Ectopia cordis appears closely related with defective embryonic development, arising as the result of defective formation and differentiation of the ventral mesoderm at 14 to 18 days of embryonic life. Ectopia cordis is usually classified into many types according to the site at which the heart protrudes: thoracic type, abdominal type, thoraco-abdominal type, cervical type. We have experinced one case of ectopia cordis which was diagnosed by ultrasonography at 16th gestational weeks in 30 year old multiparity. We report this case with brief review of literatures.