Cloacal exstrophy birth defects

What is cloacal exstrophy?

Cloacal exstrophy is an extremely rare but severe congenital birth defect, present in one of 250,000 births.

In cloacal exstrophy, a portion of the large intestine lies outside of the body. With each side and connected, are two halves of the bladders. For boys, the penis is usually flat and short with the exposed inner surface of the urethra on top. The penis is sometimes split into a right and left half. For girls, the clitoris is split and there may be one or two vaginal openings.

These defects may either be major or minor. Occasionally children born with cloacal exstrophy are also born with varying degrees of spina bifida.

Bladder exstrophy is a milder form of cloacal exstrophy. In cloacal exstrophy, defects of the urethra, bladder, and bowel are present. In bladder exstrophy, defects of the urethra and bladder are present.

What causes cloacal exstrophy?
It is caused by a ventral body wall defect. The cause for this condition is unknown, but there is a slightly larger incidence of cloacal exstrophy within families, which suggests some genetic component to the condition.

Cloacal exstrophy may be related to omphalocele which is a congenital defect in the abdominal wall where variable amounts of abdominal contents protrude into the base of the umbilical cord. Until about week 10 of pregnancy, it is normal for the bowel to be outside of the baby’s belly.  Omphalocele occurs when the bowel, liver, and sometimes other organs remain outside the belly in a sac. 

How is cloacal exstrophy treated?
Cloacal exstrophy is corrected through a series of surgeries over the years. Advances in surgical techniques enable pediatric surgeons to minimize the number of stages involved. Outcome depends on each child’s situation.

What is the long-term outlook for a baby born with cloacal exstrophy?
Medical science has come a long way. With today’s medical advances, many children not only survive and thrive, but also can look forward to leading productive lives.

Related Resources

The National Birth Defect Registry is a research project designed through a collaboration of seven prominent scientists. The registry collects information on all birth defect categories as well as the health, genetic and environmental exposure histories of the mothers and fathers. The registry has also helped detect clusters of birth defects in communities with toxic environmental exposures and in the children of mothers exposed to similar medications during pregnancy.

If your baby suffers from cloacal exstrophy, there may be an underlying cause beyond genetics. Please contact the personal injury law firm Anapol Schwartz. You may be able to qualify for a congenital birth defect lawsuit.

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