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Anencephaly MeSH Descriptor Data 2026


MeSH Heading
Anencephaly
Tree Number(s)
C10.500.680.196
C16.131.085.197
C16.131.666.680.196
Unique ID
D000757
RDF Unique Identifier
http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D000757
Scope Note
A malformation of the nervous system caused by failure of the anterior neuropore to close. Infants are born with intact spinal cords, cerebellums, and brainstems, but lack formation of neural structures above this level. The skull is only partially formed but the eyes are usually normal. This condition may be associated with folate deficiency. Affected infants are only capable of primitive (brain stem) reflexes and usually do not survive for more than two weeks. (From Menkes, Textbook of Child Neurology, 5th ed, p247)
Entry Term(s)
Absence of Brain, Congenital
Anencephalia
Anencephalus
Aprosencephaly
Congenital Absence of Brain
Hemicranial Anencephaly
Incomplete Anencephaly
Partial Anencephaly
NLM Classification #
WL 101
See Also
alpha-Fetoproteins
Public MeSH Note
79; was ANENCEPHALUS 1966-78
Online Note
use ANENCEPHALY to search ANENCEPHALUS 1966-78
History Note
79; was ANENCEPHALUS 1964-78 (Prov 1964-65)
Date Introduced
1966/01/01
Last Updated
2013/07/08
Anencephaly Preferred
Aprosencephaly Narrower
Incomplete Anencephaly Narrower
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