what is the longest anyone has lived who had anencephaly?

Answer 1

2 months is the longest confirmed survival.

Answer 2

Its pretty sad, The pictures and stories are heartbreaking

Infants born with anencephaly are usually blind, deaf, unconscious, and unable to feel pain. Although some individuals with anencephaly may be born with a rudimentary brainstem, which controls autonomic and regulatory function, the lack of a functioning cerebrum permanently rules out the possibility of ever gaining consciousness. Reflex actions such as breathing and responses to sound or touch may occur. .


Anencephaly can often be diagnosed before birth through an ultrasound examination. There are many false diagnoses for anencephaly, as it is not a common diagnosis, often confused with exencephaly or microcephaly. Also, sometimes a false prognosis stating that an anencephalic baby can live for years is given, but this cannot occur because the brain is open, meaning that infection sets in rapidly. The anencephalic brain is also usually very disorganised on a cellular level.


Prognosis

The side view of the above fetus.There is no cure or standard treatment for anencephaly and the prognosis for affected individuals is poor. Most anencephalic babies do not survive birth, accounting for 55% of non-aborted cases. If the infant is not stillborn, then he or she will usually die within a few hours or days after birth from cardiorespiratory arrest.


In almost all cases anencephalic infants are not aggressively resuscitated since there is no chance of the infant ever achieving a conscious existence. Instead, the usual clinical practice is to offer hydration, nutrition and comfort measures and to "let nature take its course". Artificial ventilation, surgery (to fix any co-existing congenital defects), and drug therapy (such as antibiotics) are usually regarded as being pointless. Some clinicians see no point in even providing nutrition and hydration, arguing that euthanasia is morally and clinically appropriate in such cases

Answer 3

This happened to one of my cousin's friends...I felt so bad for her. She didn't know until he turned that he had it--earlier sonograms hadn't been able to show the top of his head. I don't know what to say about waiting to try again. My mom had a stillbirth and she still feels kinda unresolved about the whole thing, even though she had my brother and me afterwards. I think you should go through some kind of therapy so that you deal with this problem by itself. You don't want any future kids to be like replacements or substitutes. You need to deal with this as a separate tragedy and resolve it as best you can so that whatever you do in the future is its own thing, not some kind of continuation of this. If you don't deal with this before you get pregnant again (or adopt or whatever you decide to do), you might be too depressed to take care of that child properly. Don't rush into another pregnancy--take the time to honor the experience you just had, the good and the bad aspects of it. You made a connection with that child--don't try to transfer it to somebody else. Mourn this experience and then try again when you feel better. Good luck and I'm sorry to hear that happened.

Answer 4

Anencephaly Survival

Answer 5

Anencephaly Survivors

Answer 6

Angela Morales, of Providence, just turned 1 yr old, 25 Mar 2015. Her life is considered a miracle

Answer 7

Theres a child who has survived 2 years with this.

Answer 8

Infants born with anencephaly are blind, deaf, unconscious, and unable to feel pain.
They usually are stillborn but those who are born alive, die within hours. there is no chance of the infant ever achieving a conscious existence so those babies born with anencephaly are usually just made comfortable until they pass naturally.

Answer 9

I just read up on this. God if you are going through this I am SOOOO SORRY!!! :(

Here is what I found:
*most infants are stillborn or die within several days of birth

http://www.angelfire.com/mn/michaelashope/anencephalyfact.html

Answer 10

According to anectodal evidence, about two weeks. But they don't try to keep those babies alive on purpose.