Bony and vascular anomalies of the head. Their possible relation to anencephaly.

This study links a midfacial anomaly in an 8-year-old boy, with underlying bony skull defects and abnormalities of the cerebral vasculature, with an earlier spontaneous miscarriage and the subsequent birth of a frankly anencephalic sibling. We believe that the midfacial and vascular anomalies in the second child could represent a forme fruste of anencephaly, which should alert the physician to monitor subsequent pregnancies for the complete anencephalic phenotype.