Mermaid Syndrome

Sirenomelia or mermaid syndrome is one of those rare congenital deformities, which can be life-threatening too. This condition is characterized by fused legs, that form a single lower limb. The name mermaid's syndrome is derived from the characteristic feature of sirenomelia, i.e., fused legs, that resembles a mermaid's tail. It is a rare disease and studies show that one in 100,000 babies are born with this birth defect. This condition is mostly seen in identical twins, as compared to others.

Mermaid's syndrome is a fatal condition, as it is usually accompanied by abnormalities of the kidneys, large intestines and genitalia. While, most cases of sirenomelia are associated with still births, only a few are born live. Among them too, most babies develop complications (mainly related to kidneys and bladder) and fail to survive. It is very rare to find babies with mermaid's syndrome survive the condition.

Mild and Severe Forms

This congenital deformity is usually fatal for the baby and it is rare for such babies to survive. However, the good news is that this condition occurs in various degrees of severity. This condition can be categorized as mild and severe. In mild cases, both the legs will appear to be fused, but, the fusion is only skin deep. Such babies may have fully formed legs with correct bone structure. The only abnormal thing is that the legs will be fused at any one point, like the ankles. In such cases, the deformity can be corrected with surgery. This is not the case in a severe mermaid syndrome, wherein, there are no individual legs, but a single lower limb, which is tapered. This lower limb may have ill-formed bones that completely lacks a defined leg structure. Such babies are born with a lot of other complications, that make their chances of survival meager. As of now, there are only two known survivors of this disease. They are Tiffany Yorks (born in 1988) of the United States and Milagros Cerron of Peru (born in 2004). Both of them have undergone many surgeries to tackle the complications associated with this condition. Another survivor, named Shiloh Pepin (born in 1999) of the United States, fought the disease for ten years, but died at the age of ten.

Causes

This syndrome is caused by the abnormalities of the umbilical cord blood vessels. While normal babies have two umbilical arteries and one umbilical vein, those with mermaid syndrome have only one umbilical blood vessel (rarely two). The role of genetics in causing this condition is ruled out by experts. It is believed that multiple genes and some environmental factors are jointly involved in causing this syndrome. It can be caused by any extreme mental stress or any severe illness suffered by the mother during pregnancy, excessive radiation exposure and inadequate prenatal care. However, there is no exact cause for mermaid syndrome and research is still underway. Apart from the fused legs, babies with this syndrome may have malformed or absence of kidneys; a colon with no anus; very small and fused or absent pelvic bones. The genitalia will be either absent or poorly formed. While some of them have underdeveloped lungs, some others have spinal deformities and heart problems.

Most of the babies with mermaid syndrome are stillborn. Those who are born live, need multiple surgeries for survival. Some of the lucky ones survive with surgery, but may need periodical medical assistance. So, let us hope for some miracle, that can eliminate this disease forever.