Details

Foetus showing developmental malformation

GC.9418

Foetus, lower limbs removed, showing malformation. From a II-para aged 24 years whose other children were well formed. There was hydramnios and almost 6 litres of liquor amnii were measured when the membranes ruptured. The foetus presented by the shoulder and a deformed hand could be felt in the vagina but it was ultimately expelled head first. The foetus has been injected by the left iliac vessels. The lower limbs, which presented no abnormality, have been removed. The head is well formed but the right auricula is thick, diminutive and undifferentiated. There is a regular dextroconcave scoliosis, giving the head an inclination to the right, and the right half of the thorax appears smaller than the left. The left arm is well formed but from the forearm the radius is absent. The left hand projects medially at a right angle to the ulna and though there is no thumb the other fingers are well formed. The right upper extremity projects at a right angle from the chest and it is doubtful if the humerus is differentiated from the ulna. The radius is absent. The hand is flexed on the forearm with a slight ulnar deviation and the thumb and index finger are absent.

Twentieth century