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On April 10 last year, in the delivery room of the new facility at Seoul Asan Hospital in Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, a baby girl named Park Seo-rin was born following a 38-week pregnancy. Her heart was entirely outside her body. Not only was the sternum, which normally shields the heart, underdeveloped, but also the skin and tissue on her chest and abdomen were not properly formed. She was identified as having ectopia cordis (a birth defect where the heart is positioned abnormally, such as outside the chest), an extremely rare condition with unknown origins that affects roughly 5 in every 1 million births.

More than 90% of fetuses diagnosed with ectopia cordis do not survive in the womb, and those who are born usually do not live past 72 hours. Although there have been instances in South Korea where part of the heart was outside the body, Seo-rin’s condition—where the entire heart was exposed—was exceptionally rare worldwide and marked the first such case in the country. According to reports, Seo-rin was the outcome of a challenging pregnancy for her parents, Park Tae-ho (39 years old) and Lee Hae-yeon (44 years old), who went through 14 cycles of in vitro fertilization over three years to have their second child. At 12 weeks into the pregnancy, they were told about the ectopia cordis diagnosis and were advised, “Even if the baby is born, she will not live beyond three days.” Nevertheless, the couple decided to continue the pregnancy, stating, “We cannot abandon a baby developing well inside her mother’s womb.”

The day following Seo-rin’s birth, Seoul Asan Hospital assembled several departments, such as Pediatric Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Convergence Medicine, and Rehabilitation Medicine, for a major operation. A plastic surgeon covered her heart with synthetic skin to safeguard it, while a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon conducted three surgeries to position the heart within her chest. This was an extremely complex procedure that involved creating room for the heart without harming nearby organs while keeping blood pressure stable.

Later, the plastic surgery team grew new skin from a sample of Seo-rin’s existing skin and implanted it on her chest. The Convergence Medicine team utilized 3D printing technology to fabricate a tailored protective brace that supported her chest area, as she was missing bones on both sides of her chest.

Seo-rin, who successfully underwent the surgeries, smiled for the first time at her parents 100 days after being born. According to Seoul Asan Hospital on the 17th, she is the first instance in South Korea of a newborn with a heart that was entirely outside the body surviving the operation. Now eight months old, Seo-rin has been released from the hospital and is undergoing regular outpatient treatment. Nevertheless, she still needs a ventilator and will require further surgeries once she turns three for final adjustments.

Mother Lee Hae-yeon stated, “I am extremely thankful to the medical team who made a miracle possible, allowing Seo-rin and me to come home. My only wish is for her to grow up healthy, even if she brings some trouble.”