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Prenatal and postnatal findings of acrania
S Bianca1, C Ingegnosi, S Auditore
1Registro Siciliano Malformazioni Congenite, P.O. Garibaldi-Nesima, Via Palermo, 95123 Catania, Italy. sebastiano.bianca@tiscali.it
Introduction:
Acrania is a rare congenital anomaly in which the flat bones of the cranial vault are partial or complete absent with complete but abnormal development of the cerebral hemispheres.
Case Report:
We report two cases, diagnosed prenatally by ultrasound and followed by medical pregnancy termination, one with isolated acrania and one with associated cleft lip and palate and spina bifida.
Discussion:
The acrania pathogenesis is unknown and differential diagnosis should be made with other conditions like anencephaly and acalvaria. Genetic counselling is not easy because there is no evidence for a specific genetic origin, but the extreme rarity and sporadic nature suggests a low recurrence risk.
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