Four-year-old Zhang Weiyuan of China

[chris]

Has a condition called pentalogy of Cantrell in which the heart protrudes from the body. Zhang is shown here at Shengjing Hospital in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province Nov. 21. Doctors usually try surgery to correct the exceedingly rare condition, which leaves the heart vulnerable to injury if untreated.

[Evil]

I read about this disease before (really long time ago)... this kids are like crystal...

[Ligeia]

I hope he gets it fixed.
=/

[Affix]

that looks pretty cool But the slightest graze and you get fooked bad

[zombiefication]

It's tearing my heart out to see this..

...lame, i know.

[Jennifer]

This is not Pentalogy of Cantrell. Pentalogy of Cantrell consists of a number of defects. Not just one. My nephew of 6 mos. old passed away on January 6, 2008. Pentalogy of Cantrell was one thing wrong with him.

Pentalogy of Cantrell is a rare syndrome that causes defects involving the diaphragm, abdominal wall, pericardium, heart and lower sternum.
The syndrome includes the following defects:
Omphalocele-the intestines and liver are developed outside of the body in womb.
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia-is a defect or hole in the diaphragm that allows the abdominal contents to move into the chest cavity, my nephews heart was in abdomen and part of his liver was where his heart was supposed to be.
Sternal cleft-my nephew did not have this.
Ectopia cordis-is a birth defect in which the heart is abnormally located. In the most common form, the heart protrudes outside the chest through a split sternum. Less often the heart may be situated in the abdominal cavity or neck. Looks like this is what the little boy in the picture has.
Intracardiac defect: either a ventricular septal defect or a diverticulum of the left ventricle-which is a heart defect, my nephew had a Congenital Heart Defect, where the two main vavles we're narrowed and he had two holes in his heart. Which, if I'm not mistaken, had to do with the ventricular septal defect.

You have to have atleast 4 of these 5 defects to be diagnosed with Pentalogy of Cantrell. Most babies born with Pentalogy of Cantrell do not live more than 48 hours after birth, IF they make it through the pregnancy. My nephew also had Tetrology of Fallot (pronounced fallow) which a whole different syndrome that I'm not explaining. I just thought I'd let everyone know that this is not Pentalogy of Cantrell. Im not meaning to offend anyone by this, It just means alot to me for everyone to know what this is!

All of his defects we're corrected by surgery! He died from his trach being dislodged, cutting off his airway, his was very stressed and his heart just couldn't take it anymore. They tried to re-vive him for approx. 28 minutes.

My nephew has a memorial page if anyone would like to visit! He also has a myspace! :)
landon-tyler-boothe.memory-of.com
MySpace.com - www.myspace.com/208206425
His story is very touching and inspiring. You should really read it at his memorial page. Thank you also for taking the time to read this unusually long message! :)