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Anencephaly - Medical Negligence Claim
Thousands of clinical compensation claims are initiated every year in the United Kingdom by medical negligence solicitors on behalf of people from all walks of life. A multitude of operations and procedures are executed successfully however a small percentage do go wrong, laying the grounds for medical negligence solicitors to take legal action in order to claim compensation. Both legal aid and the no win no fee scheme are available to pursue medical negligence compensation claims.
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Anencephaly is the congenital absence of a big part of the brain and the skull. In all but the rarest of cases, it is incompatible with life and most babies die within a few days or weeks of birth. It is related to spina bifida, which is failure of closure of the posterior part of the neural tube. Anencephaly is failure of closure of the topmost part of the neural tube. Most of the brain and the part of the skull that protects the brain are absent in this disease.
Anencephaly is one of the more common of the neural tube defects. This affects the protection and growth of the neural tube, a tube that develops early in the course of the embryonic development. Exactly why the neural tube doesn't completely close isn't clear. It may be related to a folic acid deficiency early in pregnancy and a possible exposure to environmental toxins.
Anencephaly is rare. It occurs in approximately one out of 10,000 births. The exact number of cases is unknown because a great number of anencephalic fetuses miscarry at some point in the first trimester. If you have a single child with anencephaly, this increases your risk of having another child with neural tube defects such as spina bifida or another case of anencephaly.
Signs and symptoms of anencephaly are quite obvious. There is congenital absence of the skull along with an absence of all but the brainstem of the brain. The cerebellum and the cerebral hemispheres are absent. The facial features are extremely disfigured and there are often heart defects as well. Sometimes death is due to the heart defect and sometimes it is due to infection of the brain and meninges. The baby can also stop breathing due to a lack of breathing centers in the brain.
Common tests for anencephaly can be done while the child is in utero. A pregnancy ultrasound can show a lack of a complete skull. Too much fluid can be present in the uterus in a condition known as polyhydramnios.
An amniocentesis can look for an increase in alpha-fetoprotein levels suggestive of a neural tube defect which may be anencephaly. A urine estriol level is elevated in anencephaly. You may want to have a prepregnancy folic acid level checked to make sure it is normal and cannot cause anencephaly.
Once a baby is born with anencephaly, the diagnosis is obvious. Where the skull should be is an open defect exposing parts of the brain with a great deal of normal brain missing. The infant is usually breathing and may have a weak cry. The infant has poor sucking reflex (if at all) and is usually paralyzed in the upper and lower extremities.
There are no therapies or treatments for anencephaly and death occurs within a few days. Parents have the option of organ donation of the infant's organs, withholding care to speed up the death of the infant or feeding the infant and caring for it until it dies from complications of the anencephaly.
If you are someone who has had anencephaly noted on ultrasound, you have the option of terminating the pregnancy or continuing to a full term birth. You can expect a high rate of preterm birth or miscarriage and there can be death in utero of the fetus.
Prevention of anencephaly involves getting enough folic acid before and during pregnancy. This can reduce the incidence of anencephaly. Many foods are now fortified with folate so that you can eat these foods to prevent neural tube defects. Getting plenty of folic acid in your diet or through a supplement can decrease the chances of getting a neural tube defect like anencephaly by half.