He was born with nearly complete ectopia cordis."

Corruption of this process may underlie ectopia cordis.

Many cases of ectopia cordis have associated congenital heart defects, in which the heart has failed to properly form.

Defects more commonly associated with ectopia cordis include:

If the ventral body wall fails to close, ventral body wall defects can resulst, such as ectopia cordis, a congenital malformation in which the heart is abnormally located outside of the thorax.