2025, Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part B

A significant amount of the brain, skull, and scalp are absent in anencephaly, a severe congenital neural tube defect (NTD). It arises when the anterior neural tube fails to close during the development of the embryo, usually during the first 23 to 26 days of pregnancy. Affected fetuses frequently die soon after birth or are stillborn, making the syndrome consistently deadly. Maternal folate deficiency, poorly managed diabetes, exposure to specific drugs or chemicals, and a family history of NTDs are among the environmental and genetic risk factors linked to anencephaly. Ultrasonography is frequently used to make the diagnosis during pregnancy, and high maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) values are used to confirm it Anencephaly has no known cure or effective therapy, despite advancements in prenatal care. Its incidence has been greatly decreased by preventative measures, including taking enough folic acid supplements before getting pregnant and during the first trimester of pregnancy.