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Articles » Gastrointestinal anomalies, spleen & abdominal wall » Limb body stalk anomaly
2010-11-10-15 Body stalk anomaly © Sanchez www.TheFetus.net
Body stalk anomaly

Marcos Antonio Velasco Sanchez, MD, Candelaria Conda Moreno, MD., Alberto Sosa Olavarria, MD., Andres Zurita Peralta, MD., Jonhy de la Cruz Vargas MD.

Hospital General Donato G Alarcon de Ciudad Renacimiento, S.S.A. Acapulco Guerrero, Mexico, Facultad de Medicina de la   U.A.G., Mexico.

Case report

This is a case of a 23-year-old G4P3 who came to our department for the routine ultrasound scan. She was at 23 weeks of her gestation and had non-contributive family or personal history.
The ultrasound examination found the following:

  • Large abdominal wall defect with herniation of the liver and heart
  • Severe spinal deformities, scoliosis
  • Clubfoot
  • Low set ears
  • Extremaly short umbilical cord with single umbilical artery
  • Enlarged amount of the amniotic fluid
  • Fetus fixed to the placenta

Our diagnosis based on the ultrasound examination was a Body stalk anomaly. The clinical examination after delivery confirmed our diagnosis. There was a large abdominal defect with visceral organs herniating outside of the abdominal cavity, adhering to the placenta. The neonate died shortly after delivery.

Images 1,2: Images show severely distorted spine.



Image 3,4: Abdominal wall defect with herniated visceral organs, adhering to the placenta.

Images 5,6: Image 5 shows upper extremity with abnormal position of the hand. Image 6 shows herniated visceral organs adhering to the placenta.

Images 7,8: Extremely short umbilical cord.

Videos 1,2: Doppler imaging showing the short umbilical cord and herniated bowel and liver.



Videos 3,4: Herniated visceral organs with bowel adhering to the placenta.



Images 9 - 12: Images of the baby. Note large abdominal wall defect with eviscerated organs and malformed lower extremities, severely distorted spine.
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