2018 Volume 54 Issue 7 Pages 1357-1362
A patent urachus is a rare anomaly and is associated with several other umbilical abnormalities such as umbilical cord cysts. We report on the case of a patent urachus patient with umbilical cord cysts diagnosed by fetal ultrasonography. A female infant was delivered by caesarian section at 38 weeks and 1 day of gestation. Prenatal ultrasonography during her 23rd week of gestation revealed umbilical cord cysts, which demonstrated a consistent reduction in size. Her postnatal ultrasonography showed umbilical cord cysts with a red structure inside. She was diagnosed as having hernia into the umbilical cord, and ligation of the umbilical cord was carried out. However, shortly thereafter, the red structure inside the umbilical cord was exposed and cystography showed a patent urachus. Urachal resection with umbilicoplasty and purse-string subcuticular suture was performed. Her postoperative course was uneventful and the cosmetic outcome of the umbilicus was satisfactory 4 months after surgery. From our experience with this patient, it is important to provide perinatal care considering the existence of a patent urachus regardless of coexisting diseases such as chromosomal and congenital abnormalities when an umbilical cord cyst is detected by fetal ultrasonography. Thus, infants such as this patient should be treated in medical facilities that have capabilities for neonatology, obstetrics, and pediatric surgery.
