Abstract

Ayamo Oben, Jason Morris, Angela Boyd and Michael Berkus

Body stalk anomaly is a fatal disfiguring abdominal wall defect resulting from abnormalities in the development of the cephalic, caudal, and lateral embryonic body folds1 . The inability to fold in the correct axes leads to these body wall deformities. Daskalakis et al. reported an incidence of 14/106,727 fetuses2 . There are few cases of this complex in the United States and little is known about the cause of this abnormality. Proposed mechanisms include early amnion rupture, vascular disruption of the early embryo, or an abnormality in the germinal disk (X). Given that body stalk anomaly is a fatal anomaly, early diagnosis is critical to the counseling and management of affected patients. Herein, we present a case of body stalk syndrome and discuss management in a patient with a history of a prior cesarean delivery who declined termination.