Prenatal Diagnosis of Exstrophy of the Cloaca with Ectopia Cordis

Ultrasonic techniques allow for noninvasive detection of prenatal abnormalities. The management of a delivered baby and the subsequent course are strongly influenced by intrauterine detection. A case of exstrophy of the cloaca with ectopia cordis was prenatally diagnosed by ultrasonography. Ectopia cordis and exstrophy of the cloaca are both rare anomalies. Ectopia cordis can be detected when the heart is outside the thoracic cage and a small thorax is seen on the ultrasonography. Exstrophy of the cloaca can be suspected when omphalocele and meningomyelocele are present, the urinary bladder is absent, and internal and/or external genitalia are abnormal by ultrasonography. Careful and repeated ultrasound study will confirm the combined anomalies of ectopia cordis and exstrophy of the cloaca.