anencephaly
Sign in to savethumb|Photos of anencephalic baby at first (A) and second years (B) of age. thumb|Photos of an anencephalic newborn. Anencephaly is the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp that occurs during embryonic development. It is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the rostral (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day following conception. Strictly speaking, the Greek term translates as "without a brain", but it is accepted that children born with this disorder usually only lack a telencephalon, the l
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Anencephaly
- Medical condition (new).image
- Anencephaly-web.jpg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Illustration of an anencephalic fetus
- Medical condition (new).specialty
- Medical genetics; pediatrics
- Medical condition (new).symptoms
- Absence of the cerebrum and cerebellum
- Medical condition (new).risks
- Folate deficiency
- Medical condition (new).prevention
- Mother taking enough folic acid (vitamin B9)
- Medical condition (new).prognosis
- Death typically occurs within hours to days after birth
- Medical condition (new).frequency
- 1 in 4600 in the U.S.
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Causes
- Relation to genetic ciliopathy
- Diagnosis
- Meroanencephaly
- Holoanencephaly
- Craniorachischisis
- Prognosis
- Epidemiology
- Ethical issues
- Organ donation
- Brain death
- Pregnancy termination
- Legal proceedings
- United States uniform acts
- Research
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Photos of anencephalic baby at first (A) and second years (B) of age. thumb|Photos of an anencephalic newborn. Anencephaly is the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp that occurs during embryonic development. It is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the rostral (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day following conception. Strictly speaking, the Greek term translates as "without a brain", but it is accepted that children born with this disorder usually only lack a telencephalon, the largest part of the brain consisting mainly of the cerebral hemispheres, including the neocortex, which is responsible for cognition. The remaining structure is usually covered only by a thin layer of membrane—skin, bone, meninges, etc., are all lacking. With very few exceptions, infants with this disorder do not survive longer than a few hours or days after birth.
Anencephaly is a severe neural tube defect typically considered incompatible with prolonged postnatal survival, and as such, surgical intervention is not commonly indicated.