Holoacranial anencephaly: a case report

Abstract

Introduction: Anencephaly is the most serious congenital malformation of the central nervous system. Its development begins from the beginning of intrauterine life. The anencephalic fetus is born without scalp, without skull fragment, without meninges, without a segment of the cerebral hemispheres, and without cerebellum; however, it does present a certain posterior portion of the brain and
its nervous trunk.
Objective: To describe patients with diagnosis of fetal anencephaly, to be able to identify them from the early stages of gestation.
Case report: This is a 40-year-old patient with history of hypertension, irregularly treated with methyldopa, gravida 5; para 4, early neonatal death, amenorrhea by date of her last menstruation of 37.5 weeks. She came to the emergency room of the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, in the Republic of Guyana, for reporting decreased fetal movements.
Conclusions: This paper shows the importance of studying anencephaly and the consequent need to prepare specialized multidisciplinary teams for the care of pregnant women. In this case, several negative factors happened together, which determined the late diagnosis of the malformation.