Birth Defects
... A birth defect is a significant abnormality of appearance, structure, or function that is present at birth. Birth defects are common: two to three percent of live born infants show one or more signifi...

Landau-Kleffner Syndrome Information Page
... Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a rare, childhood neurological disorder characterized by the sudden or gradual development of aphasia (the inability to understand or express language) and an abnorma...

Cephalic Disorders Information Page
... Cephalic disorders are congenital conditions that stem from damage to or abnormal development of the budding nervous system. Most cephalic disorders are caused by a disturbance that occurs very early ...

Mobius Syndrome Information Page
... Mobius syndrome is a rare birth defect caused by the absence or underdevelopment of the 6th and 7th cranial nerves, which control eye movements and facial expression. The first symptom, present at bir...

Craniosynostosis Information Page
... Craniosynostosis is a birth defect of the brain characterized by the premature closure of one or more of the fibrous joints between the bones of the skull (called the cranial sutures) before brain gro...

Klippel Feil Syndrome Information Page
... Klippel-Feil Syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by the congenital fusion of any 2 of the 7 cervical (neck) vertebrae. It is caused by a failure in the normal segmentation or division of the cer...

Spina Bifida Information Page
... Spina bifida (SB) is a neural tube defect (a disorder involving incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord, and/or their protective coverings) caused by the failure of the fetus's spine to c...

Williams Syndrome Information Page
... Williams syndrome is a rare, congenital (present at birth) disorder characterized by physical and developmental problems including an impulsive and outgoing (excessively social) personality, limited s...

Waardenburg Syndrome
... Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is an inherited disorder often characterized by varying degrees of hearing loss and changes in skin and hair pigmentation. The syndrome got its name from a Dutch eye doctor n...

Pregnancy and the Drug Dilemma
... By Michelle Meadows Jennifer, 25, of Baltimore wishes she only had to deal with the basics of pre-pregnancy planning, like going for a routine checkup and taking prenatal vitamins. "I get discouraged ...

What I need to know about Hirschsprung''s Disease
... Hirschsprung's (HURSH-sprungz) disease, or HD, is a disease of the large intestine.* The large intestine is also sometimes called the colon. The word bowel can refer to the large and small intesti...

Arteriovenous Malformations and Other Vascular Lesions of the Central Nervous System Fact Sheet Fact Sheet
... Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are defects of the circulatory system that are generally believed to arise during embryonic or fetal development or soon after birth. They are comprised of snarled t...

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
... Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a group of birth defects caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Children with FAS have many physical, mental and behavioral problems and may be mentally retarded....