Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of a twinning epigastric heteropagus.
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Epigastric heteropagus is a rare type of conjoined twinning which results from an ischemic atrophy of one fetus at an early stage of gestation. We present what we believe to be the first case diagnosed antenatally at 22 weeks' gestation. The pelvis and lower limbs of the ischemic fetus (the parasite) were attached to the epigastrium of the well-developed fetus (the autosite), which had a small omphalocele. Antenatal sonography provided an accurate diagnosis, enabling unnecessary abortion to be avoided. (+info)
Epignathus: always a simple teratoma? Report of an exceptional case with two additional fetiforme bodies.
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We report on a case of a fetal epignathus combined with two fetus-like structures resembling acardius acranius. The anomaly was detected at 23 weeks of gestation and led to termination of pregnancy at 24 weeks. This is the first description of epignathus with parasitic fetuses detected prenatally. It shows that the boundary between fetal teratoma and multiple pregnancy in special cases may be difficult to define. (+info)
The cyclops and the mermaid: an epidemiological study of two types of rare malformation.
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Infants with cyclopia or sirenomelia are born at an approximate rate of 1 in 100,000 births. Eight malformation monitoring systems around the world jointly studied the epidemiology of these rare malformations: 102 infants with cyclopia, 96 with sirenomelia, and one with both conditions were identified among nearly 10.1 million births. Maternal age is somewhat increased for cyclopia, indicating the likely inclusion of some chromosomally abnormal infants which were not identified. About half of the infants are stillborn. There is a female excess among infants with cyclopia. Excess twinning occurred for cyclopia and possibly also for sirenomelia. An analysis of associated malformations indicates the similarity between the two conditions, which is in agreement with recent embryological analysis. (+info)
Iniencephaly with cyclopis (a case report).
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Iniencephaly is a rare neural tube defect. We report a rare association of iniencephaly with cyclopia, probably the third such report in the literature. (+info)
A rare case of globosus amorphus in a goat.
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We present a case of globosus amorphus delivered from a goat and subjected to radiography and histological examination. Radiography revealed a lack of development of any organ system; histological sections showed evidence of lymphoid aggregations, mononuclear infiltrations, blood capillaries, and dense fibroblasts. (+info)
Acardiac twins--an analysis of 10 cases.
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The pathological characteristics of the acardiac fetus were studied based on 10 autopsy cases. These cases were collected during a 13-year period at Seoul National University Hospital. All 10 fetuses were monochorionic twins, and six of them were male. Externally normal co-twins survived in five cases and died perinatally in three cases. The gestational period of these acardiacs ranged from 20 to 33 weeks. All of them showed a growth arrest of a fairly wide spectrum. Four cases belonged to acardius anceps, five were acardius acephalus, and one was acardius amorphus. Nine out of 10 cases were holoacardius, whereas one was hemiacardius with a vestigial heart tube present. Characteristic artery-to-artery anastomoses were demonstrated in all cases where examination was possible. The umbilical cords of the acardiacs often consisted of only two vessels, i.e., one umbilical artery and one umbilical vein, and these vessels were directly attached to the arteries and veins of the normal co-twins on the placental surface. The vascular system of the acardiac fetuses was simplified, providing only inflow and outflow pathways through common iliac vessels and vitelline vessels. When the head part was preserved (acardius anceps), the facial features were indistinguishable, particularly in the midfacial region, which resulted in a characteristic holoprosencephalic malformation of the brain in two out of four cases. Normal eyeball structure was not noted in any of these cases. The oral cavity and tongue were rarely recognized. Once the head part was absent (acardius acephalus) there was a wide variation of thoracic organ development. Hypoplastic lungs were seen in three cases, and they were connected to the trachea. A tracheoesophageal fistula was seen twice. The gastrointestinal tract was the most common feature of these acardiac monsters. However, it often lacked some portions, such as a stomach, midgut or part of a large intestine. The kidneys, testes and other parts of the urinary system were other common constituents of the acardiacs. (+info)
Case of true cyclopia.
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True cyclopia is a rare anomaly in which the organogenetic development of the two separate eyes is suppressed. A case of true cyclopia with normal karyotype is presented. There was a history of the use of an intrauterine device for contraception and of drug ingestion during early pregnancy. An anatomicopathological study of the monster with detailed presentation of the cyclopean eye is reported. The possible causes of cyclopia with particular relation to this case are discussed. (+info)
Cranioschisis aperta with encephaloschisis in cephalothoracopagus hamster twins.
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The results of gross and histopathological study of a near-term male hamster exencephalic lateral cephalothoracopagus are presented. There was minimal duplication of the internal organs to the point of division at the abdomen. The appendicular skeleton was relatively unaffected by the severe malformations of the axial skeleton. The studies suggested that the lateral relationship of the skull to the spinal columns was a consequence of the presence of two embryonic neural tubes; the chordomesodermal systems of the right and left twins apparently contributed the tissues for the right and left cephalic neural folds, respectively. Anomalies of the vertebral bodies and neural arches were not related to failure of closure of the neural tube as there was no evidence for rachischisis in either body half. Rather, the anomalous axial skeletal elements were apparently the result of competing fields of development by two chordomesodermal systems. The twins were recovered from a dam maintained on a diet consisting of 80% cassava, a cyanide-containing staple consumed by humans in tropical countries. Because the numbers of resorbed implantation sites and malformed litermates were low and the failure to produce conjoined twins in other litters recovered from dams given cassava diets, it appears unlikely that the malformation was related to the composition of the diet. (+info)