European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A REVIEW ON THE ROLE OF VITAMINS IN CONGENITAL VENTRAL ABDOMINAL WALL DEFECTS; OMPHALOCELE AND GASTROSCHISIS

Mala Thakur*, Ryanjit Singh Virk, Pritpal Singh Sangha, Alessia Genova, Komal Virk, Snehal Goud, Vaugn De Vera and Pooja Shah

ABSTRACT

Omphalocele and Gastroschisis are two of the rarest ventral abdominal wall defects which occur due to congenital malformations in utero. These defects fail to fuse the abdominal wall properly, which expose the abdominal organs such as the intestines, stomach, and liver outside the abdominal cavity. Omphalocele is the protrusion of the abdominal contents covered with peritoneum sac through the base of the umbilical cord.[1] It consists of Wharton’s jelly in between both the amnion and peritoneum membrane. Meanwhile, Gastroschisis usually occurs to the right of the belly button and is the protrusion of the abdominal contents without the peritoneum sac covering.[1] Both of these birth defects can be detected prenatally by fetal ultrasonography as well as treated. Despite the technological advances in medicine, the explanation behind exactly why or how these defects occur are unclear. To examine the roles of different vitamins and their possible roles in the prevalence as well as manifestation of ventral abdominal wall defects, related studies were reviewed to find a possible explanation behind these malformations.

Keywords: Omphalocele, Gastroschisis, Vitamins, Congenital, Abdominal Wall Defect.