Rare birth defect A boy has a sac on his back that looks like a giant red balloon

Doctors have documented a young boy born with an eye-catching disease: a red, balloon-like sac on his back.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in detail Case last month New England Journal of Medicineas part of a regular segment highlighting unusual medical images. The boy’s ballooning sac was a rare complication of a relatively common birth defect that leaves a gap in the spine. Despite the alarming appearance, doctors were able to successfully remove the sac without any problems and the child recovered with no long-term developmental problems.

The boy was born with a type of neural tube defect (NTD). affects about 1 in 1,000 people. The neural tube is a structure that forms early in the embryo’s gestation and is the basis from which the brain and spinal cord will later develop. Usually, the tube closes completely by the fourth week of pregnancy, but sometimes it doesn’t, causing a gap in the spinal cord and spine. This type of NFD is specifically known as spina bifida.

in the year mildest casespeople may never experience symptoms of spina bifida, or even learn about it through a random imaging test until they are adults. in the year the most serious casespart of the baby’s spinal cord can push through the opening and form a sac containing spinal fluid, meninges (one of the protective layers of the brain), and nervous system tissue or nerves. This form can cause serious problems such as structural brain defects, difficulty with normal movement, and lifelong developmental delays.

The boy’s form of spina bifida fell somewhere in the middle, which is known as a meningocele. Her protruding pouch was certainly large, measuring about 3 inches by 2.8 inches by 2 inches. Importantly, it contained spinal cord and meninges, not just spinal cord and brain tissue. You can see the picture of the bag herefair warning though: it’s pretty gross.

There are things that can increase the chance of being born with NFD, such as the mother taking certain medications or having a folic acid deficiency early in development (so mothers-to-be is often recommended taking folic acid supplements). However, according to doctors, both the mother and the fetus do not have high risk factors. So it looks like it was just a fluke.

Thankfully, 6 days after the boy was born, doctors surgically removed the sac and corrected the child’s defect. After four days, he was well enough to leave the hospital. And at a six-month follow-up, the boy’s development was found to be normal.