Intro to Birth Defects

If a structure is abnormal at birth, what do we need to know to explain it embryologically?

• One can trace back a birth abnormality by first comparing it to what anatomy normally forms.Then we can determine what tissue or cell population was involved in producing this structure, followed by what and when the processes they underwent in occurred. Once this context is established, a conclusion can be drawn for what processes may have failed and what would have been the consequence of those failed processes.

Fetal interruption syndrome

• Zika virus - south and central america

• German measles