Cozzolino Mauro, Riviello Chiara, Fichtel Gertrud, Tommaso Mariarosaria Di
Department of Biomedical, Experimental and Clinical Sciences - Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Florence, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy.
Private Practice, Futura Diagnostica Medica, Firenze, Italy.
Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2016 Jul;106(7):643-7. doi: 10.1002/bdra.23503. Epub 2016 Apr 18.
Sirenomelia is a rare, but deadly condition characterized by fusion of the lower limbs, lower spinal column defects, severe malformations of the urogenital and lower gastrointestinal tract, and an aberrant abdominal umbilical artery.
The two main hypotheses, not mutually exclusive, that have been advanced to explain the pathogenesis of sirenomelia are the blastogenetic theory and the vascular disruption theory.
We describe a case of sirenomelia, probably associated with the use of methylergonovine maleate, an ergot alkaloid, during the first weeks of pregnancy.
On the basis of the mechanisms of vascular disruption and early administration of methylergonovine maleate at a critical stage of organogenesis, we conclude that exposure to methylergonovine maleate could be the cause of the development of sirenomelia. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:643-647, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
