A 16-year-old obese primigravida girl arrives to the ER in active labor. The patient did not undergo prenatal care or take prenatal vitamins in order to conceal her pregnancy from her family. Her fetal heartbeat is undetectable, and she vaginally delivers a stillborn child. The stillborn has multiple dysmorphic characteristics, including narrowly set eyes and a midline lump consistent with a proboscis. An autopsy of a fetus reveals merged cerebral hemispheres, a missing forebrain fissure, and a single intracranial ventricle. Which of the following mechanisms is most likely to explain these findings?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: A developmental field defect is a collection of abnormalities that develops as a result of an embryonic abnormality in an adjacent group of cells. Holoprosencephaly is a developmental field abnormality defined by a range of prenatal malformations caused by inadequate forebrain division (prosencephalon).

A 16-Year-Old Obese Primigravida Girl Arrives to the ER in Active