From Latin, the frightening word “hypoplasia” is translated as “underdevelopment, poor formation”. Most often it sounds like an unpleasant diagnosis, and sometimes as a sentence. The translation reveals the full essence of the problem, unfortunately, pathology can affect not only some separate organ, but the whole organism as a whole.
What it is
One of the developmental defects, when part or all of the organ is smaller in size, and its performance is significantly reduced. This is what hypoplasia is. The disease can occur on any organ of the person, the most dangerous manifestation is called aplasia - the absence of an organ or any part of it.
Where and when does pathology begin?
The disease begins to develop in the womb. When a baby is born with normally developed organs and body parts, which subsequently, due to various reasons, stopped developing and growing, this cannot be called hypoplasia.
Hypoplasia in a child is not always detected immediately after birth. There are cases when the pathology is detected only after some time, for example, puberty - this is hypoplasia of the genitals or mammary glands. It manifests itself only during their development and formation.
Types of disease
Hypoplasia of the whole organism is called microsome or dwarfism. People affected by such an ailment hardly grow and become dwarfs. But such a manifestation of the disease is rare, often doctors are faced with the underdevelopment of individual organs.
If hypoplasia occurs, any organ can suffer, the most common forms of hypoplasia:
- The brain, which can be combined with abnormalities and underdevelopment of the spinal cord.
- Teeth.
- Thyroid.
- Kidneys, lungs.
- Internal and external genitalia (infantilism).
- Cardiovascular hypoplasia.
- Vertebral arteries.
- Bones.
- Ears (microtia).
Often in medical practice there is a combined form of pathology. An unhealthy organ is directly related to other organs. The result is a defect in tissues of interconnected organs.
If one of the paired organs is affected by hypoplasia, a healthy organ takes responsibility and performs the main activity of the underdeveloped and the disease proceeds without serious complications.
The main causes of hypoplasia
The disease begins to develop in the womb. This is due to the peculiarities of the formation of the fetus and the influence on the mother's body of various factors. Internal factors provoking the emergence and development of pathology include “accidental damage” to the embryo karyotype, as well as all deviations that occurred during the initial embryo tissue laying. An abnormal division of the fetal cells occurs, an insufficient amount of amniotic fluid affects, which leads to fetal hypoplasia.
Internal negative factors are very numerous:
- radiation;
- trauma to the expectant mother;
- high temperature effect;
- smoking;
- alcohol;
- narcotic drugs;
- work in hazardous industries;
- poor environmental conditions;
- the use of strong drugs;
- infections (rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes, flu, cancer, toxoplasmosis and much more).
It is better for expectant mothers to think more about themselves and the baby, so that the birth of a child is joy, and not anxiety or trouble.
The signs of pathology, although they are innate, in some cases appear only after a few years.
Artery pathology
The phenomenon is very rare. Arterial hypoplasia is characterized by signs of chronic coronary artery disease. During the examination, a narrowing or absence of the main vessel in a certain area is noticed.
Pulmonary Hypoplasia
With pulmonary artery disease, there is a combination with an underdeveloped lung and cardiac ducts. Pathology can be localized both in a small area and capture a vast area.
Hypoplasia of the artery of the lung entails a narrowing of many vessels, at the ends of which aneurysms appear. In the areas of narrowing of the arteries, the vascular walls noticeably thicken, which entails structural deterioration of the lung.
The initial stage of the disease does not manifest itself, but over time there are:
- rapid fatigue;
- shortness of breath
- frequent respiratory infections;
- inhibited physical development.
Various health measures will help, but the best way out of this situation is surgical intervention. The doctor will excise the abnormal area, and its passage, by stitching a patch from the patient’s pericardium, will increase.
Bone damage
What is bone hypoplasia? Congenital maldevelopment of bone tissue, i.e. small bones. An anomaly can occur on any part of the human skeleton. The forms of the disease are different, it all depends on which bone underwent the pathology:
- finger hypoplasia;
- hips
- hypoplasia of the skull;
- bones of the base of the nose.
Like any organ underdevelopment occurs inside the womb, bone hypoplasia is no exception.
Reasons for the appearance
The culprits of the anomaly may be some genetic diseases, as well as the impact of negative factors on the body of a pregnant woman. These include:
- effect of nicotine;
- ionizing radiation;
- poisonous or narcotic drugs;
- industrial toxins;
- diseases.
The consequences of such an ailment can be different: from deformity to disability. And the older a person becomes, the more pronounced are the signs of anomaly.
The treatment of the disease is very difficult and long, but the result is worth it.
Thyroid pathology
Underdevelopment of the endocrine organ affects the slow growth of its tissues and causes a malfunction in the production of necessary hormones. What is thyroid hypoplasia?
In reference books on medicine several types are defined:
- In the body, one of the two lobes is underdeveloped. Hence the name of the disease - hypoplasia of the right / left thyroid lobe.
- Small size of the entire organ.
Both pathologies develop in the same way and the consequences of changes in the body are no different.
Causes and consequences
Thyroid hypoplasia progresses for various reasons. In adults:
- Diseases of the pituitary gland due to hemorrhage, severe radiation, infectious diseases, head injuries.
- Change related to age.
- Treatment with strong medications.
- Inflammation of the thyroid gland of a chronic nature.
In children, the occurrence of anomalies in the prenatal period occurs for the following reasons:
- Negative influence of external sources (radiation exposure, chemical intoxication).
- Iodine deficiency in mom's body.
- The use during pregnancy of preparations containing hormones.
- Heredity.
Any disease has symptoms. With thyroid hypoplasia in a seven-year-old child or at an earlier age, the following symptoms are observed:
- weight loss;
- gastrointestinal problems (constipation);
- distracted attention;
- inhibited physical development;
- mental and neurological disorders;
- yellowish tint of the epidermis;
- decreased activity and apathy;
- a hoarse voice;
- slow response to loud sound or bright light.
The main signs of hypoplasia in adults are not much different from children. When observing a patient, the following symptoms are detected:
- weak short-term memory;
- decreased body temperature;
- constipation and flatulence;
- genital dysfunction;
- dry mouth
- fatigue, general weakness;
- bags in the eye area;
- deterioration of the epidermis and its derivatives;
- fast weight gain.
Unfortunately, treatment that was not started on time or the absence of it leads to cretinism and other unpleasant consequences.
Treatment of gland hypoplasia is medication. The doctor prescribes drugs containing hormones in the form of tablets or injections. They support the secretory work of the thyroid gland, and are taken continuously.
Vertebral Artery Hypoplasia
The basis of a healthy blood supply to the whole organism is the Willis Circle. It is formed by large vertebral arteries (branches of the right and left). Under normal conditions, arteries develop evenly.
Underdevelopment of arteries is like hypoplasia, such a definition is given if the pathology is congenital, but not acquired.
Doctors distinguish the following pathologies:
- right-sided;
- left-sided;
- bilateral.
The disease quickly wears out the body and leads to exhaustion. Surgeon intervention is often required.
Anomaly of the right vertebral artery
The roots of the disease usually go back to the distant prenatal period. The onset of the disease could provoke exposure to the expectant mother, bruises, prolonged exposure to high temperature (bath, sauna, beach), as well as alcohol, nicotine, and viral infection.
With ipoplasia of the right vertebral artery, a person's condition becomes worse with age. The following alarming symptoms occur:
- dizzy;
- weakness and drowsiness;
- dizziness;
- depression, mood swings;
- disorders of the vestibular apparatus;
- insensitivity.
The body does not need special treatment; it independently seeks ways to compensate for blood supply. Failures are very rare, in such emergency cases a surgical scalpel comes to the rescue.
It is impossible to eliminate the pathology in a conservative way, sometimes drugs that dilate blood vessels are used.
Pathology of the left vertebral artery
Symptoms of the manifestation of the disease are not detected immediately and are closely associated with impaired blood circulation. There are problems:
- obstructed vascular patency;
- organ ischemia;
- stagnation of blood.
The body smoothes the development of hypoplasia of the left vertebral artery for a long time, so the consequences pop up after many years.
It is worthwhile to beware when pain occurs in the cervical spine. Anastomosis is considered a typical manifestation of hypoplasia, when the branches of the main vessels begin to connect together. Compensation of underdevelopment of the artery occurs.
Hypoplasia of the left artery entails high blood pressure. Everything related to hypoplasia has its roots in the womb, the pathology of the left artery is no exception. A birth defect can be caused by the following factors:
- injuries to women during the period of gestation;
- radiation;
- infectious diseases;
- Unhealthy Lifestyle;
- genetic predisposition.
The pathology of the spinal artery manifests itself with age, and often the symptoms are confused with other diseases. When diagnosing an ailment, one should be extremely careful.
Irreversible changes with such an ailment can affect parts of the bone canal and the artery deepening into it. The anomaly reduces the blood supply to brain cells, which entails a plume of problems.
With the underdevelopment of the left vertebral artery, a person experiences some unpleasant sensations:
- severe and regular headaches;
- impaired hearing and visual acuity;
- fatigue.
Hypoplasia of the right or left artery is very common. About 10% of the world's population suffer from this disease. In most people, the body copes, compensating for the underdevelopment over the years.
In order to help the patient, the doctor prescribes drugs that affect the improvement of metabolic processes and blood properties in the brain tissue. The body will be protected from ischemic changes, but the problem will remain.
Surgical intervention is required in rare cases when it is not possible to restore cerebral blood flow differently. Endovascular surgery will be required. A special dilator, a stent, is introduced into the lumen of a narrowing artery. It increases the diameter of the affected area and normalizes normal blood circulation.
Hypoplasia of any organs is often incurable. Reviews with positive changes are excellent. But if the disease is launched, the consequences will be unpredictable. You should be attentive to your health and not start a pathology. This leads to irreversible processes, even death.