Baby Born With Heart Outside Chest Has Surgery

Audrina Cardenas is only 5 weeks old, yet she has beaten the odds of survival repeatedly.  The infant had surgery this week to repair a rare and often fatal congenital defect: a third of her heart is outside of her chest.

See the amazing video: Audrina Cardenas in Surgery

Doctor's at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston performed the open heart surgery to place Audrina's heart back in her chest, a six hour procedure during which her chest cavity was reconstructed. Doctor's estimate that only 8 in every 1,000,000 pregnancies results in a condition like Audrina's, and 90% of those do not survive. Doctor's are confident that Audrina has beaten the odds and after a lengthy stay in the hospital, she will go on to live a normal and healthy life.