Omphalocele and gastroschisis: different entities, similar therapeutic goals.

Omphaloceles, varying widely in size and content, result from incomplete central fusion of the four somatic plates that come to form the abdominal wall. Gastroschisis, which permits the midgut to spill freely out of an otherwise properly formed abdominal wall, comes about from rupture of the cord membrane at its site of attachment to the umbilical skin. The advent of parenteral nutrition was a signal advance for babies born with both of these anomalies, allowing for their support while various surgical maneuvers are used to reconstruct the abdominal wall.