At birth, a baby girl has meconium in her vagina and no anal opening (imperforate anus).
Describe this type of birth abnormally and the possible origin or causal factor.
Imperforate anus
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Imperforate Anus is also known as Anal Atresia or Anal Stenosis.
It is a form of Anorectal Anomaly of children,especially girls.
Imperforate anus occurs when the anal opening is absent or not in a normal position. It is a birth defect caused by the failure of normal development of the anal area. This malformation occurs in early pregnancy, usually the 5th week (not sure tho)😁
Usually, it is idiopathic with no know n cause sha…But risk factors that might lead to it include:
Genetics (In Trisomy 21)
Mothers who abuse drugs (illicit drugs)
Mothers who smoke
Gestational Diabetic mothers
Mothers who are overweight.
😊😊😊
Hi Doctor P,
Hi BethyLizzy,
This condition is known as rectovaginal fistula with anal atresia. It is causal factor is too small cloacal membrane or failure of urorectal septum to extend to the surface.
Usually the cloacal membrane ruptures into the anal opening posteriorly and urogenital sinus anteriorly. In situations of failure of the urorectal septum to extend to the surface, the anal opening shifts anteriorly and opens into the vagina in a female or the urethra in a male.
Imperforate anus results mainly from the failure of the anal membrane to breakdown thus failing to link the rectum and the anal opening.
These developmental processes is made possible due to epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. Thus, these defects are probably due to misexpression of genes during the epithelial- mesenchymal signalling in these regions of development. Several risk factors such as alcohol, drugs and toxins, etc may be responsible for this misexpression of genes.
Thank you
This is a condition where the baby is born with an abnormality of the anal opening. This defect happens when the embryo is still growing in the mother’s womb. There’s no anal opening or the anal opening is too small or it’s in a wrong place like the vagina. The symptoms are belly swelling, vomiting or the baby not stooling in the first 48 hours. Meconium is the new born baby’s first faeces so having it in the vagina is a symptom of imperforate anus. The cause is not exactly known but it is believed to be due to the abnormal development of the rectum when the embryo is in the womb
Hi BethyLizzy,
This condition is known as rectovaginal fistula with anal atresia. It is causal factor is too small cloacal membrane or failure of urorectal septum to extend to the surface.
Usually the cloacal membrane ruptures into the anal opening posteriorly and urogenital sinus anteriorly. In situations of failure of the urorectal septum to extend to the surface, the anal opening shifts anteriorly and opens into the vagina in a female or the urethra in a male.
Imperforate anus results mainly from the failure of the anal membrane to breakdown thus failing to link the rectum and the anal opening.
These developmental processes is made possible due to epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. Thus, these defects are probably due to misexpression of genes during the epithelial- mesenchymal signalling in these regions of development. Several risk factors such as alcohol, drugs and toxins, etc may be responsible for this misexpression of genes.
Thank you
That condition is known as an anorectal malformation(perineal fistula). It occurs mostly as a genetic disorder(familial), it is corrected through a reconstructive surgery at the child’s tender age by a peadiatric surgeon.
Hi Charlie,
This is not perineal fistula as noted by you. From the question, the baby girl has meconium in her vagina, this simply means the rectum opens into the vagina, an anomaly referred to rectovaginal fistula.
This anomaly may arise as a result of too small cloacal membrane or failure of the urorectal septum to extend to the surface.
Thank you
This is likely an anorectal malformation. At the 7th to 10th week gestation age their is incomplete separation of the cloaca from the urogenital sinus by the urorectal septum. The rectum is not connected to the anus but there is a fistula present, stool will leave the baby’s body through the fistula into the vagina instead of the anus
Hello Lilian,
The cloaca membrane ruptures into the urogenital sinus ventrally and the anal opening posteriorly rather than the cloaca separating from the urogenital sinus.
In a situation where this repture is incomplete or where the membrane is too small, the hindgut moves or shifts anteriorly and opens into the vagina resulting in an anomaly called rectovaginal fistula.
Thank you
In my opinion the baby probably has a rectovaginal fistula. That means that the anus or rectum is connected to the vagina. The opening of the anus is in the vagina instead of the normal place. So instead of the babies meconium coming out of the Imperforate anus, it passes through the available route which is the vagina.
I think the cause most of the time is congenital or probably the mother smoked or drank while she was pregnant
Correct!
This anomaly is usually results from failed epithelial- mesenchymal interaction or possible mis-expression of genes.
Smoking and drinking are possible risk factors as well. Thank you for attempting today’s review question
Warm regards
This condition is known as rectovaginal fistula with anal atresia. It is causal factor is too small cloacal membrane or failure of urorectal septum to extend to the surface.
Usually the cloacal membrane ruptures into the anal opening posteriorly and urogenital sinus anteriorly. In situations of failure of the urorectal septum to extend to the surface, the anal opening shifts anteriorly and opens into the vagina in a female or the urethra in a male.
Imperforate anus results mainly from the failure of the anal membrane to breakdown thus failing to link the rectum and the anal opening.
These developmental processes is made possible due to epithelial-mesenchymal interactions at about the 7th week of development. Thus, these defects are probably due to misexpression of genes during the epithelial- mesenchymal signalling in these regions of development. Several risk factors such as alcohol, drugs and toxins, etc may be responsible for this misexpression of genes.