Microcephaly is a fairly serious disease. It manifests itself in the form of abnormal brain development, which implies a direct decrease in its size. As a result, a child with such a diagnosis has unnaturally small brain parameters.
Pathology Description
Microcephaly is a disease characterized by a decrease in brain mass, as a result of which there is a decrease in the parameters of the skull and directly the circumference of the head itself. The remaining organs sequentially develop in accordance with accepted age norms. Such changes are the cause of the development of mental disability and deviations at the neurological level.
According to available statistics, the disease is diagnosed in one child out of 10,000. There was no clear relationship between the baby’s gender and the appearance of microcephaly.
In such a pathology, there are signs of serious malformations in the brain: agnosia of the corpus callosum, heterotopy, lissencephaly. Brains of the brain differ in a flattened appearance, tertiary grooves are almost completely absent. As a rule, in children with this diagnosis, the temporal and frontal lobes, cerebellum, brain stem and visual tubercle remain underdeveloped.
Doctors distinguish two forms of a disease such as microcephaly. Symptoms of each of them are almost identical, but appear at different times.
The main causes of the disease
- Intoxication of the fetus inside the womb as a result of the influence of alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, which the mother abused in the first trimester of pregnancy.
- Violations of the endocrine nature of the future mother in childbirth.
- Infectious diseases (for example, toxoplasmosis) suffered by a pregnant woman.
- Intrauterine infection of the baby (mumps, measles, rubella, herpes).
- The effect of certain groups of drugs.
- Mechanical injuries and injuries sustained by the baby during childbirth.
Quite often (34% of cases), microcephaly of the brain is caused by chromosomal mutations. They mean the process of changing the gene set, which becomes the cause of the abnormal development of the baby inside the womb.
Cases when healthy parents have a baby with some deviations are not uncommon. At the same time, neither they themselves nor specialists can determine the factors that influenced the development of the disease.
Clinical picture
Externally, microcephaly is easy to recognize, especially if the disease is detected in older children. With the normal development of the face in sick babies, an underdevelopment of the brain area of the head is noted. As you grow older, visual signs of the disease become noticeable. The child’s face is large, the forehead is sloping, while the head remains small.
Microcephaly in children under one year of age is manifested by an excessively small head, the circumference of which does not exceed 34 cm. However, this factor is not fundamental in the final diagnosis. Very often, a large head in a newborn is an individual feature inherited from close relatives.
There is another parameter by which it is possible to determine an ailment in the maternity hospital - the circumference of the chest. With this diagnosis, this indicator exceeds the size of the head circumference, while in healthy babies the opposite is true.
Thus, doctors distinguish the following signs of the disease:
- Head circumference - 24-30 cm.
- The fontanel is completely closed or differs in small size.
- The baby has a narrow forehead, strongly protruding ears, convex superciliary arches.
- Muscular dystonia.
- Disproportionate head (the brain part is abnormally small).
- The height and weight of the baby is much lower than normal.
- Convulsive syndrome.
- Lack of coordination of movements.
- Strabismus.
Microcephaly is a disease in which small patients are characterized by rapid excitability or, conversely, constantly lethargic and lethargic. They comparatively late begin to hold their heads, sit and even crawl. The brain of such babies is characterized by numerous defects, and its weight does not exceed the mark of 500 grams.
Depending on the degree of brain reduction, the disease manifests itself with varying degrees of mental inferiority. In each case, everything is individual. A child may be diagnosed with a mild degree of imbecility or a deep form of idiocy.
Congenital Microcephaly
The primary form of the disease is an abnormally small skull and insufficient brain development. Pathology is formed in the first or second trimesters of pregnancy due to genetic disorders or the action of the adverse factors described above. Children with this diagnosis have the opportunity to lead an independent social life.
Secondary microcephaly
Symptoms of the disease are most often accompanied by cerebral palsy. It occurs due to the action of negative factors in the third trimester of pregnancy, as well as due to injuries and mechanical damage during childbirth. Such factors include the abuse of alcohol and drugs by the mother. In addition to insufficient brain weight, patients have inflammatory processes, numerous hemorrhages, and tissue necrosis. At the time of the birth of the child, the size of the head may be slightly reduced. However, as he grows up, development slows down, the skull acquires asymmetric forms, and signs of mental underdevelopment appear. Children who have been diagnosed with microcephaly in this form usually cannot walk or even sit on their own.
Diagnostics
Antenatal diagnosis includes ultrasound. During the procedure, the doctor compares the data obtained during the ultrasound on the size of the head and body of the fetus with standard indicators. Reliable information can be obtained only if you know the exact timing of pregnancy.
Invasive diagnosis is the determination of gene mutations and chromosomes. Such a study is performed when the amniotic bladder is punctured, since the material for the study is the villi of the fetus, amniotic fluid and particles of the epithelium.
Prenatal screening includes ultrasound and biochemical blood tests. Also, the patient is asked to fill out a special form, where, among other questions, there is a column on the gestational age. The obtained data and analysis results are processed in a special computer program that shows the likelihood of a disease such as brain microcephaly.
Examination of the newborn is carried out in the very first minutes after its birth on the basis of visual parameters. If the diagnosis is confirmed, a comprehensive examination is additionally prescribed.
What should be the treatment?
Microcephaly is an incurable disease, it is impossible to restore normal brain activity, but there are ways to correct it.
Therapy of an illness implies a comprehensive approach, the activities of which are usually aimed at the physical and intellectual development of the baby for his maximum adaptation in society.
Treatment takes place in three directions:
- Drug therapy. Used to stimulate metabolic processes in the brain. For these purposes, sedatives, dehydration and anticonvulsants are prescribed (Nootropil, Pyriditol, Cerebrolysin).
- Physiotherapeutic procedures, exercise therapy, massages.
- Therapeutic measures to correct the intellectual development of the child. In our country, there are special boarding schools for children with central nervous system lesions and a diagnosis of microcephaly. Photos of kids involved in such institutions can be found in this article.
Treatment of small patients with a primary form of the disease is sometimes successful. With well-chosen therapy, the child will never be completely healthy, but he will be able to lead a simplified social life.
As for the secondary form, things are much worse here. Many children, despite serious and persistent treatment, cannot master the most basic skills.
Forecast
Microcephaly is a pathology that causes serious mental impairment. Modern medicine, unfortunately, does not provide comforting predictions for patients with such a diagnosis. A complete cure is not possible. The main task of doctors and parents is to teach the child the primary skills of self-care and restore normal physical activity.
According to available statistics, the average life expectancy with microcephaly due to insufficient development and functioning of the brain is 12-15 years. Very rarely a person lives up to 30 years. As a rule, people with this disease die due to infectious lesions.
Prevention
Microcephaly of the brain is a relatively rare disease, which is not possible to prevent the development of. If a baby with a similar anomaly has already been born in the family, experts recommend parents to undergo a special medical-genetic examination to assess the risk of a similar pathology in the following children.