Abstract
Anencephaly, in which a substantial part of the brain, skull, or scalp is missing, is a lethal neural tube defect (NTD) that occurs during the fourth week of pregnancy after failed cranial neuropore closure. One in every 1,000 births is anencephalic, and newborns with this NTD are not viable or treatable. Associated with anencephaly is rachischisis, or severe incomplete neural tube closure and exposure of the spinal cord. Ultrasonography can quickly diagnose anencephaly. Like other NTDs, nutritional and environmental factors both play a role in the development of anencephaly. Here, we report and discuss an unusual case of a 12-week gestation anencephalic fetus with craniospinal rachischisis and its embryological roots.
 In our case, except from the low socio-economic life of the patient, the absence of a predisposing factor that could cause such an anomaly, the abortion being in the first trimester and the occurrence in the first pregnancy of the patient as a result of 5-year infertility made us think that pathology examination of the abortus material is important in complet or incomplete abortions.
Highlights
neural tube defect (NTD) in the third and fourth weeks of development typically arise from abnormal closures of the neural folds Moore and Persud (2009); Salder and Lagman’s (2012)
A 26-year-old woman at gravida 1 was admitted to the Istanbul Training and Research Hospital for surgical pregnancy termination after the fetus was diagnosed with craniospinal rachischisis anencephaly
The prevalence of anencephaly varies according to region, race, gender, and environmental factors
Summary
Is a lethal congenital neural tube defect (NTD) that occurs in 1 in every 1,000 births. It is the most prevalent anomaly that affects the central nervous system like other NTDs, anencephaly affects neural and non-neural tissues, including vertebrae, muscles, and skin Gupta (2004); Salder and Lagman’s (2012). NTDs in the third and fourth weeks of development typically arise from abnormal closures of the neural folds Moore and Persud (2009); Salder and Lagman’s (2012). Most of the nervous tissue is subject to degeneration or atrophy by exposure or extrusion from the skull While this NTD is commonly referred to as anencephaly (“without brain tissue”), meroanencephaly (“partial lack of brain tissue”) might be a better word for some iterations of this phenomenon, as rudimentary neural tissue can still be present (2). This report outlines one such case of anencephaly with rachischisis
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
