Anencephaly
Anencephaly
Winifred Mary Quinn
St. Mary’s University
Abstract This paper reviews the history, etiology, embryology, prevention, treatment, and the ethical and legal concerns of infants born with the neural tube defect known as anencephaly. Anencephaly is a defect that occurs early in the gestational period of a fetus, caused by the neural tube failing to close completely. This defect results in the lack of the scalp, skull, cranial vault and cerebral hemispheres developing normally. The outcome is either a spontaneous abortion or an infant born with severe birth defects. If the child is carried to birth, the life is expectancy is measured in minutes or hours versus days.
Introduction Anencephaly is the most common congenital anomaly of the neural tube during embryogenesis (Poulose, Tsepov & Fox,2007), occurring in 1/1000 pregnancies (Moore, 2011) . This genetic mutation or neural tube deficit (NTD) occurs during the fourth to sixth week of gestation and is the result of the rostral area of the neural tube failing to close. This condition leads to a lack of development of the telencephalon and the midbrain areas of the brain (Chatzipapas, Whitlow & Economides, 1999). The malformation is characterized by the absence of the scalp, skull, cranial vault, and cerebral hemispheres. The eyes of these babies usually protrude some as the eye sockets are not properly formed. The fetus cannot survive outside of the womb and medical care provided for a live newborn consists of supportive measures only (Moore, 2011). Most cases of Anencephaly lead to spontaneous abortions, with few surviving gestation to nine months (Stemp-Morlock, 2007). The cause of anencephaly is multifactorial; it can be caused by genetic or environmental influences (Moore, 2011) which will be discussed in more detail later in this article. Due to restrictions on abortions in many areas, the birth of a child with anencephaly can lead to emotional trauma to the mother (Dinz,
Winifred Mary Quinn
St. Mary’s University
Abstract This paper reviews the history, etiology, embryology, prevention, treatment, and the ethical and legal concerns of infants born with the neural tube defect known as anencephaly. Anencephaly is a defect that occurs early in the gestational period of a fetus, caused by the neural tube failing to close completely. This defect results in the lack of the scalp, skull, cranial vault and cerebral hemispheres developing normally. The outcome is either a spontaneous abortion or an infant born with severe birth defects. If the child is carried to birth, the life is expectancy is measured in minutes or hours versus days.
Introduction Anencephaly is the most common congenital anomaly of the neural tube during embryogenesis (Poulose, Tsepov & Fox,2007), occurring in 1/1000 pregnancies (Moore, 2011) . This genetic mutation or neural tube deficit (NTD) occurs during the fourth to sixth week of gestation and is the result of the rostral area of the neural tube failing to close. This condition leads to a lack of development of the telencephalon and the midbrain areas of the brain (Chatzipapas, Whitlow & Economides, 1999). The malformation is characterized by the absence of the scalp, skull, cranial vault, and cerebral hemispheres. The eyes of these babies usually protrude some as the eye sockets are not properly formed. The fetus cannot survive outside of the womb and medical care provided for a live newborn consists of supportive measures only (Moore, 2011). Most cases of Anencephaly lead to spontaneous abortions, with few surviving gestation to nine months (Stemp-Morlock, 2007). The cause of anencephaly is multifactorial; it can be caused by genetic or environmental influences (Moore, 2011) which will be discussed in more detail later in this article. Due to restrictions on abortions in many areas, the birth of a child with anencephaly can lead to emotional trauma to the mother (Dinz,
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