Emergency Starnes operation: a surgical success beyond any better expectation.

The wide anatomic spectrum of Ebstein's anomaly is reflected by its extremely variable clinical presentation. We report a case of severe Ebstein's anomaly with natural history of a boy who underwent a successful emergency modified Starnes operation in a Third World sub-Saharan African country during a charitable international surgical mission. The particularities of this case are represented by the modality and setting of the intervention and by a surprising and fast clinical recovery.