[Early amnion rupture as a cause of multiple congenital abnormalities in the newborn infant]

We describe two children with congenital deformities due to the early amniotic rupture syndrome. One child who had an amniotic band around the upper arm suffered from a distal nerve lesion. This was relieved following surgery. The second child died shortly after birth of multiple congenital malformations. The most usual findings in this syndrome are constriction of a limb by an amniotic band, scoliosis or syndactyly due to oligohydramnion with compression. We discuss one accepted hypothesis (subscribed by an experimental animal study) of the aetiology of the early amniotic rupture syndrome.