Congenital hernia of the cord

Abstract

Several embryopathies involve umbilicus including midgut herniation, omphaloceles, urachal and vascular anomalies. Although described earlier, hernia into umbilical cord has not found enough mention in the literature. Poor understanding of its clinical characteristics has made to miscategorization of this entity as "omphalocele minor" by many. Some of these undergo spontaneous reduction or epithelialisation if left alone. The present study describes a series of four consecutive cases of this entity and describe their clinical characteristics, associated GI anomalies and possible embryogenesis.