A Case of Preterm Newborn with Hydranencephaly, from an Adolescent, Unmarried Woman who had No Antenatal Care

Kim, Jeong Nam; Shim, Eun Jung

Abstract

Hydranencephaly is a term used to describe a group of brain malformations in regard to developing any brain remnants. With most of the cerebral cortex absent, the cerebral hemispheres are replaced by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), covered with leptomeninges and dura. Hydranencephaly is a rare isolated abnormality occurring in less than 1 per 10,000 births. With the cutting edged sonography, most of the hydranencephalies are screened in antenatal care. Therefore, it is very rare to observe a living preterm with hydranencephaly. From a history of a young, 19-year-old pregnant woman who did not look for the antenatal care, we found out that it was her first pregnancy, she was unmarried and intermittently had alcohol during the pregnancy. After home delivery, a preterm newborn assumed to be 28 weeks of gestational age was placed under surfactant therapy because of respiratory distress syndrome, and then received a mechanical ventilation. Brain sonography showed that most of the cerebral parenchyma, cortical tissue was absent at the 5th day after the birth. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of brain showed that almost complete absence of cerebrum which was replaced by CSF, hydranencephaly at 81th days from birth. In summary, we report a preterm newborn with hydranencephaly from an adolescent, unmarried woman who had no antenatal care.