CHAPTER I. 



CARDIAC ANOMALIES. 



ECTOPIA OF THE HEART. 



Ectopia of the heart, i.e., congenital malformation in which the heart 

 is displaced from its normal position and thrust sometimes completely 

 beyond the thoracic cavity, is not very rare. The heart may be well 

 developed, but it is not enclosed by the thoracic walls when the thoracic 

 cavity closes during the first stages of embryonic life. The sternum, 

 which is cartilaginous and becomes ossified only at a later period, 

 remains fissured along the median line, and the fissure, usually of 

 oval form and with rounded margins, surrounds the auricles and the 

 vessels at the base of the heart. The ventricles form a hernia pro- 

 jecting beyond the thorax, which then only contains the two pleural 

 sacs and a complete mediastinal partition. The pericardium remains 

 undeveloped. 



Despite this malformation, the embryo develops. The foetus may 

 in due season be brought forth living, but as a rule death occurs in 

 a few hours. 



The diagnosis is easy, but this malformation cannot be treated. 

 All that can be done is to protect the ectopiated organ against ex- 

 ternal violence in cases where the young creature is born alive. 



