Journal of Peking University(Health Sciences) >
Pregnancy complicated by patent urachus: A case report
Received date: 2021-09-10
Online published: 2025-04-12
Copyright
To improve clinicians' understanding, and to explore the diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy complicated with patent urachus. The clinical symptoms, ultrasound images, and delivery outcome of the pregnancy complicated with patent urachus were reported, and the literature was reviewed. The patient had umbilical leakage as a young child occasionally, the symptom of leakage was not obvious after she was 10 years old, and there was no asymptomatic before pregnancy and in the first and second trimesters. Umbilical leakage was present at gestational 33 weeks, and ultrasound showned a tubular structure (0.7 cm in width) was connected between the top of the bladder and the umbilicus, and there was anechoic areas inside. The pregnancy complicated with patent urachus was diagnosed. The patient was checked regularly, and kept the umbilicus clean and dry. Premature rupture of membranes occured at gestational 39 weeks 4 days. The patient was admitted to the obstetrics department, and she deliveried finally. After delivery, the symptoms of umbilical leakage urine relieved, and an elective resection of abnormal urachus was planned. The patent urachus creates a tube connection between the umbilicus and the anterosuperior wall of the bladder, it was termed an median umbilical ligament at birth as usual, which still communicated with the bladder after birth. The main clinical manifestations were umbilical leak and infection, which were the main diagnostic basis. Ultrasound, CT and MRI were important auxi-liary examination methods.The patients with symptoms in the neonatal and early childhood period were managed actively and had the potential for self resolution, especially for the children younger than 1 year. Therefore, patients under 1 year of age were offered surgery only if they had recurrent infections or failed to selfresolve. It is recommended to remove abnormal urachus before pregnancy for the women complica-ted with patent urachus. If the patent urachus was found during pregnancy, the umbilicus should be kept clean and dry to avoid infection. The pregnancy complicated with patient urachus is not contraindicated to vaginal delivery.
Key words: Pregnancy; Patent urachus; Anatomy of urachus
Junjuan YANG , Lei ZHANG , Yan ZHANG . Pregnancy complicated by patent urachus: A case report[J]. Journal of Peking University(Health Sciences), 2025 , 57(2) : 393 -395 . DOI: 10.19723/j.issn.1671-167X.2025.02.027
| 1 | Tam T , Pauls RN . Embryology of the urogenital tract: A practical overview for urogynecologic surgeons[J]. Int Urogynecol J, 2021, 32 (2): 239- 247. |
| 2 | Nix JT , Menbille JG , Albertm M , et al. Congenital patent urachus[J]. J Urol, 1958, 79 (2): 264- 273. |
| 3 | Wilson AL , Gandhi J , Seyam O , et al. Urachal anomalies: A review of pathological conditions, diagnosis, and management[J]. Transl Res Anat, 2019, 16, 100041. |
| 4 | Parada VC , Adam SZ , Nikolaidis P , et al. Imaging of the urachus: Anomalies, complications, and mimics[J]. Radiographics, 2016, 36 (7): 2049- 2063. |
| 5 | Dhillon J , Liang Y , Kamat AM , et al. Urachal carcinoma: A pathologic and clinical study of 46 cases[J]. Human Pathology, 2015, 46 (12): 1808- 1814. |
| 6 | Das JP , Vargas HA , Lee A , et al. The urachus revisited: Multimodal imaging of benign & malignant urachal pathology[J]. Br J Radiol, 2020, 93 (1110): 20190118. |
| 7 | Sato H , Furuta S , Tsuji S , et al. The current strategy for urachal remnants[J]. Pediatr Surg Int, 2015, 31 (6): 581- 587. |
| 8 | Rohleder S , G?deke J , Münsterer O . Laparoscopic resection of urachal cysts[J]. Zentralbl Chir, 2017, 142 (4): 371- 372. |
| 9 | Tanaka K , Misawa T , Baba Y , et al. Surgical management of urachal remnants in children: Open versus laparoscopic approach[J]. Medicine, 2019, 98 (40): e17480. |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |