**6.5 Meningocele**

*Congenital Anomalies in Newborn Infants - Clinical and Etiopathological Perspectives*

**6. Clinical presentation, management, and outcomes**

This anomaly is lethal and has no cure or surgical management.

increase the sensitivity [42].

abnormalities [43].

**6.1 Craniorachischisis**

**6.2 Anencephaly**

indicated [49].

**6.3 Myelomeningocele**

**6.4 Encephalocele**

death [10].

different from US findings enough to change the management. They reported a false-positive rate of 2.5% in diagnosing conditions like midline anomalies, hemorrhage, and cell-proliferation disorders by MRI. It is suggested that clinicians should combine fetal MRI with 2-or 3-D-US in order to reduce false-positive diagnosis and

It is known that the placenta plays a key role in the fetal development and in protecting the fetus against the maternal immune system and pathogens. There are correlations between placental dysfunction and neurodevelopmental injury [43, 44], and placental ischemia and inflammation can damage the developing fetal CNS. Fetal MRI provides the opportunity to accurately assess *invivo* fetal placental and brain function [45]. In intrauterine growth restricted conditions, placentas have decreased volume as well as lower apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values [46–48]. Shapira-Zaltsberg et al., in an interesting study in 2017, evaluated the MRI characteristics of the placenta in fetuses with and without CNS anomalies. They concluded that in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of fetal MRI, restricted diffusion in placenta as well as reduced ADC values are accompanied with fetal CNS

Clinical presentations are highly dependent on the type, size, and location of abnormalities, varying from no evident symptoms to lifelong disabilities and even

Being a condition incompatible with survival, anencephaly diagnosed during early pregnancy may result in a legal interruption of pregnancy. The majority of anencephalic newborns die within the first day of birth. Surgical treatment is not

If the infant is not affected by other serious anomalies or malformations, most cases with myelomeningocele or myelocele survive with a wide range of neurological impairments. The level of the defect is a determining factor of the clinical characteristics. In levels below the spinal lesion, patients may face a variety of motor and sensory deficits, including bladder incontinence or sexual dysfunction [50]. Most of these lesions are managed by surgical intervention, followed by rehabilitation.

Content and location of the herniated mass is a predictive marker of prognosis and clinical manifestations. "The more rostral the site, the better the prognosis" [50]. Epilepsy, sensorial or motor neuron dysfunction, or various degrees of developmental deficiencies may occur in cases due to mechanical effects of traction and distortion on the brain stem [51]. Some patients may take benefits from surgical

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intervention.

Patients usually have a normal neurological examination with no evident sphincter dysfunction or deformity of the lower extremities. A simple surgical correction is the main treatment method.
