congenital disorder

congenital disorder, abnormality of structure and, consequently, function of the human body arising during development. This large group of disorders affects almost 5 percent of infants and includes several major groups of conditions.

Malformations: abnormalities of the embryonic stage

Malformations are abnormalities of the human form that arise during embryogenesis (the first eight weeks of development). Conventionally, embryogenesis is divided into two stages, blastogenesis and organogenesis.

Organogenesis

The second half of embryogenesis, from day 29 to day 56 of development, is known as organogenesis, because it is during this time that organ development occurs. Defects acquired during organogenesis tend to be milder than those of blastogenesis and affect single rather than multiple parts of the body and generally allow for survival of the developing organism. Defects may include cleft palate, webbed fingers, hypospadias (incomplete closure of the male urethra), and development of an extra finger.

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Minor anomalies: abnormalities of the fetal stage

Minor anomalies are subtle defects of appearance and structure evaluated subjectively or by measurement. While malformations arise during blastogenesis and organogenesis, minor anomalies are defined as arising during phenogenesis (“attainment of final form,” between days 57 and 266 of development). During this time, enormous growth of the fetus, maturation of function and cell types in every organ, and acquisition of individual attributes occur. The degree of heredity of a given physical trait is variable, with some traits being strongly genetic and others being influenced largely by environmental factors. Genetically caused defects often involve several or many genes inherited from both parents. Such variability is sometimes referred to as multifactorially (polygenically) determined.

The latest-developing, mildest of malformations are rather common in the population and many appear to be dominantly inherited. Some of these are internal anomalies and may not be discovered until an autopsy after death from noncongenital causes or following an injury, when physical examination may reveal, for example, a defect of the heart or brain.

Growth defects

Growth defects overwhelmingly represent deficient rather than excess growth, and dozens of genetic growth failure syndromes have been identified. Most are congenital defects, even in those who grew normally for some time after birth and then slowed and whose condition is frequently found to represent familial, hereditary states, such as a congenital defect of thyroid or pituitary development, or a genetic disorder, such as chromosome abnormality as seen in Down syndrome (trisomy 21). Tables and graphs of prenatal growth have been established and serve as standards whereby length, weight, head size, and chest circumference of the newborn infant can be plotted to assess size and growth patterns. Extremes at both ends are cause for concern. Large infants may be an indication of actual or incipient maternal diabetes mellitus. Very small infants without obvious defects of the skeleton are considered to have intrauterine growth retardation. This may be due to failure of the placenta to provide adequate nourishment (in which case postnatal catch-up growth is expected), environmental agents such as smoking or alcohol, or intrinsic genetic factors in the fetus that impose a limitation on growth. In cases of intrinsic genetic defect, such as Down syndrome, the placenta has the same genetic constitution as the fetus, and placental constraints affect growth. Conversely, the prenatal survival of a fetus with an otherwise lethal genetic disorder, such as trisomy 13 or 18, results from the clonal proliferation of cells with a normal genetic constitution in the placenta.

Most complex congenital syndromes—that is, simultaneous occurrences of multiple anomalies and growth deficiency—should be considered the result of autosomal recessive inheritance or of minute chromosomal changes until proved otherwise. Some complex syndromes are associated with mental retardation, whereas others predispose the fetus to malignancies or immunodeficiencies. In several such disorders, causative gene mutations have been identified. Disorders such as congenital shortness with abnormal body proportions are frequently genetic, involving the skeleton, connective tissue, and cells. Defects of excessive growth of all or part of the body may indicate a predisposition to tumour formation in an organ or tissue.

Dysplasia

Dysplasias are usually congenital abnormalities of tissue development or differentiation. They include tumours of single or mixed tissue types, potentially affecting any part of the body, with a risk of malignant transformation. Most are sporadic, but some are dominantly inherited. In many dysplasias the gene mutations are patchy and require loss of the normal partner gene (allele, “loss-of-heterozygosity”) for malignant transformation.

Disruptions

Disruptions are a group of congenital disorders that result from environmental disturbances of the processes of blastogenesis and organogenesis. Several classes of disruption have been recognized, including those due to prenatal infections such as rubella, cytomegalovirus, and toxoplasmosis; chemicals such as mercury, alcohol, thalidomide, and cancer chemotherapeutic agents; immune phenomena such as fetal graft-versus-host disease; vascular defects; metabolic defects; hormones such as diethylstilbestrol; gestational disruptions, including defects of implantation; and twinning disruptions such as the acardia anomaly that results in reverse flow of blood from one twin into the other, with the donor twin undergoing any number of regressive or degenerative phenomena eventually resulting in death.