TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Encephalocele A1 - Bianchi, Diana W. A1 - Crombleholme, Timothy M. A1 - D'Alton, Mary E. A1 - Malone, Fergal D. PY - 2015 T2 - Fetology: Diagnosis and Management of the Fetal Patient, 2e AB - Key PointsEncephalocele is a rare defect of the cranial vault, which may contain meninges only, or also neural tissue.Most cases in Caucasian populations are occipital in location, while Southeast Asian populations are more commonly frontal.Causes include maternal diabetes, rubella, hypervitaminosis-A, isolated neural tube defect, amniotic-band syndrome, aneuploidy such as trisomies 13 and 18, and genetic syndromes such as Meckel–Gruber.Differential diagnosis includes cystic hygroma, cervical teratoma or hemangioma, or epidermal scalp cysts, while false-positive diagnoses have been made by mistaking clumps of fetal hair in the third trimester.Natural history and prognosis depends on the presence of associated malformations and presence of neural tissue within the meningeal sac.Pregnancy management includes prenatal MRI to confirm absence of neural tissue within the sac, and possible elective cesarean delivery if prognosis appears favorable. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - obgyn.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1106396362 ER -