Edward’s syndrome is a medical condition where a person has an excess chromosome 18 and as such, this illness is also referred to as trisomy 18. This disease is very severe, and the organs in the body can be affected because of this condition.

Edward’s syndrome is a common autosomal trisomy. In fact, it is the second most common among the live births, only second to trisomy 21. Research shows that Edward’s syndrome occurs in one out of 6000 births. This disease is more common among female births than in male births. This is likely because trisomy 18 among male fetus often get lost via stillbirth or miscarriage.

The infant is likely to suffer this disease if there is a history of Edward’s syndrome in the family. The risk of getting this disease also increases with the age of the mother.

Fetuses with the trisomy 18 are most likely to die with 95 percent likelihood.

Symptoms of Edward’s syndrome

A fetus may have Polyhydramnios during the pre-natal stage caused by the impaired swallowing and sucking reflexes. The baby inside the wound may also experience Oligohydramnios and suffer from fetal distress or display weakness in fetal activity.

Other symptoms of the disease during pre-natal period include intrauterine growth restriction, small placenta and single umbilical artery, among others.

There are also other features that are noticeable for infants with the Edward’s syndrome. These babies may be underweight after being born, have malformed, and low set ears and tiny jaw or micrognathia, tiny facial features and cleft lip or palate, to name a few.

Babies with the Edward’s syndrome are also likely to experience some abnormalities in their skeletal frame such as clenched hands. Clenched hands include having the fifth finger override the fourth one or the index finger overrides the middle one.

The infant may also have hypoplastic nails and short sternum, rocker bottom feet and thumb aplasia, among others.