Ectopia cordis and acrania W. Adrian Clavelli, MD, Article Published: May 30, 2002 This fetus presents with the uncommon association of an ectopia cordis and acrania. Two other such cases have been reported but in the context of Pentalogy of Cantrell. The ectopia cordis is well demonstrated in these images, Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos. Ā ...and this is the acrania. Note that the presence of acrania in the 3rd trimester is in opposition to the commonly suggested evolution of acrania into anencephaly. Acrania results from a failure of mesoderm migration while anencephaly is a neural tube defect And the confirmation with prenatal MRI. Reference: Bognoni V, Quartuccio A, Quartuccio A.First-trimester sonographic diagnosis of Cantrell"s pentalogy with exencephaly.J Clin UltrasoundĀ 1999 Jun;27(5):276-8 Discussion Board Start a discussion about this article Add to Favorites Favorite