Abstract
Congenital lower bifid sternum is extremely rare. We report here a case of a male infant. Fetal ultrasonography at 31 weeks of gestation detected ectopia cordis. He was delivered by cesarean section at 37 weeks and 4 days gestation. After birth, the defect of lower sternum and heart beat to epigastrium was pointed out, but skin defect did not find. A chest X-ray revealed an abnormal shadow of the heart. The computed tomography scans revealed lower bifid sternum and ectopia cordis. The ultrasonic cardiography did not show malformation in the heart. He remained without causing arrhythmia. At 55 days of age, he was operated on for sternum elongation under the diagnosis of lower bifid sternum with incomplete partial ectopia cordis. The ultrasonic cardiography during and after the operation did not show abnormality of circulation change. He was discharged on the 12th day after the operation because of good progress. Concerning the treatment of the bifid sternum, we have to consider complications such as ectopia cordis or malformation of the heart.
