Limb body wall complex

Limb body wall complex (LBWC) is a rare fetal malformation of unknown origins.

Traditionally diagnosis has been based on the Van Allen et al., criteria, i.e. the presence of two out of three of the following anomalies:[1]

  1. Exencephaly or encephalocele with facial clefts
  2. Thoraco and or abdominoschisis and
  3. Limb defects.

LBWC occurs in approximately 0.32 in 1,000 births.[1]

At this time, there is no known cause of Limb Body Wall Complex. However, there have been tentative links made between a diagnosis of LBWC and cocaine use.[2] In addition, current research has shown that there may be a genetic cause for a small limited number of LBWC cases.[3]

Limb Body Wall Complex is a lethal birth defect. There are only anecdotal stories of survivors.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Chikkannaiah, Panduranga; Dhumale, Hema; Kangle, Ranjit; Shekar, Rosini (2013). "Limb body wall complex: A rare anomaly". Journal of Laboratory Physicians 5 (1): 65–7. doi:10.4103/0974-2727.115930. PMC 3758712. PMID 24014975.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, December 09, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.