Iniencephaly: 3D-computed tomography imaging

A Fetus with Iniencephaly Delivered at the Third Trimester

Iniencephaly is an uncommon neural tube defect, having retroflexion of the head without a neck and severe distortion of the spine. Iniencephaly is classified into two groups, iniencephaly apertus (with encephalocele) and iniencephaly clausus (without encephalocele). Incidence ranges from 0.1 to 10 in 10.000 pregnancies and it is seen more frequently in girls. Most of the fetuses with this defect die before birth or soon after birth, while those with the milder forms may live through childhood. Recurrence risk is around 1–5%. Family should be offered termination to reduce maternal risks and counseled for folic acid supplementation before the next planned pregnancy. Here we present a rare case of iniencephaly clausus which was diagnosed at 18th week of gestation by ultrasonography and delivered in the third trimester of pregnancy due to rejection of termination.

Iniencephaly: Prenatal diagnosis with postmortem findings

Iniencephaly is a rare but almost always lethal neural tube defect with the following cardinal features: occipital bone defect, partial or total absence of cervicothoracal vertebrae and fetal retroflexion. Iniencephaly is associated with malformations of the central nervous system, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular system. Prenatally diagnosed cases of iniencephaly are rare because careful and early ultrasonographic evaluation is necessary. The present cases of iniencephaly were found to carry associated malformations such as atrioventricular septal defect and club foot. We present an iniencephaly prenatally diagnosed by sonography, in which therapeutic abortion was induced, with a review of the published literature.

Iniencephaly: neuroradiological and surgical features. Case report and review of the literature

Iniencephaly is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by spina bifida of the cervical vertebrae, fixed retroflexion of the head on the cervical spine, and occipital bone defect. There are only five reports of surviving patients with iniencephaly. The authors report the case of a newborn who presented with iniencephaly and an encephalocele that were surgically treated in our service. Neurological examination of the patient yielded normal results except for a moderate psychomotor retardation. The neuroradiological and surgical findings of the case suggested that the trigger of the anomaly was the occipital bone defect and rachischisis of the posterior vertebral arches.