Survival in an infant with a prenatally diagnosed Meckel syndrome variant

Abstract

An infant with occipital encephalocele and unilateral multicystic kidney, diagnosed prenatally, was considered to have a variant of the Meckel syndrome (MS). This case is exceptional in that the infant was alive and healthy following surgical repair of the encephalocele, with normal function of the unaffected kidney, at age 5 months. Based on this experience, in fetuses or infants with MS, thorough evaluation of both kidneys is imperative prior to suggesting either termination of pregnancy, or withholding of life-sustaining medical treatment in infants already delivered.