Late prenatal diagnosis of complete pentalogy of Cantrell

Abstract

Cantrell’s pentalogy is a rare syndrome associated with a midline embryological defect involving a series of malformations: anomalies of the lower sternum, anterior diaphragm, heart, and anterior abdominal wall. It can be classified as complete, probable or partial, but the most important thing is to describe and understand the anomalies involved. We describe a case of a late diagnosis of Cantrell’s pentalogy at 35 weeks and 5 days of pregnancy in a woman from the interior of Pará state, an Amazon Brazilian region. Fetal echocardiography confirmed the diagnosis of Cantrell’s pentalogy with tetralogy of Fallot and ultrasound examination showing a bilateral clubfoot. Cesarean section was performed at 36 weeks because of pre-eclampsia superimposed on chronic arterial hypertension with signs of severity. The male newborn was delivered weighting 2,320 grams. Postnatal echocardiography confirmed the diagnosis of Cantrell’s pentalogy and karyotype was normal (46, XY). Infant was discharged at 47 days of age with good weight gain, artificial breastfeeding, and outpatient follow-up by the cardiology and cardiac surgery specialists.