Association of prenatal vascular disruptions with decreased maternal age.
Disruptions of fetal structures can create a variety of congenital anomalies. Some apparent prenatal vascular disruptions associate strongly with decreased maternal age, and are rare with older mothers. This is well-documented for gastroschisis, but similar findings with hydranencephaly suggest a general phenomenon that may also involve porencephaly, septo-optic dysplasia, early body stalk disruptions, certain hemifacial anomalies, and other findings. Prenatal vascular disruption may be a common cause of congenital anomalies, but its nature is unknown, and obvious environmental confounders associated with decreased maternal age may have only relatively small contributions. A protective effect for pregnancies of older mothers also remains a possibility.
Lubinsky
M S
MS
Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA.
D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*