Anyone heard of VADER(sp?)'s Syndrome?

Specialties NICU

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I was wondering if anyone has heard of VADER's syndrome? The letter are an acronym and I am not even sure what they stand for. Quite frankly, I am not even sure of the spelling...I am a new L&D nurse and yesterday we delivered a 31 wk'r by crash section who had spina bifida and many other anomalies. They ended up transferring her to another hospital and when the PANDA team arrived they were talking about how she might have VADER's. Any info would be helpful...I have been told that the syndrome is very rare any more due to prenatal testing etc.

Thanks!:)

I don't work OB but I did a search and used a diffenrent spelling, I found this reference might be of help. I will go back and get the host site.

http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/3098.html

I wanted to get the front page because it has other Vater's illness as well

http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/2603.html

Specializes in ICU.

Try this site - it does not list a Vader syndrome but you might find it under another name.

http://www.mic.ki.se/Diseases/C16.html

Specializes in ICU.

From that site I found these two

http://www.thefetus.net/page.php?id=446

http://www.vaterconnection.org/

Specializes in NICU.

That website Gwenith gave for TheFetus.net was the best description. I work in a Level III NICU and in six years I've seen 3 of these babies. Two are still alive but are disabled, and one passed away - but his death didn't have anything to do with his syndrome (it was due to C-Diff and dehydration). All three had MULTIPLE surgeries and VERY long NICU courses. All three had severe TEF requiring several operations each, 2 had renal anomolies, 2 had cardiac anomolies, 2 had imperforate orifice, and 1 had limb deformities and skin tags.

One interesting note: 2 of the 3 babies I saw with VATER were the product of in vitro fertilization. Makes you wonder if something gets "lost in translation" during this process...

Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.

Gompers...we have had several in the past few years and they were the product of in vitro too....does make you wonder!

Those kids are a nightmare to manage, aren't they? Whew!

Specializes in NICU.
Gompers...we have had several in the past few years and they were the product of in vitro too....does make you wonder!

Those kids are a nightmare to manage, aren't they? Whew!

I'm glad that someone else has noticed that in vitro babies seem to have a higher rate of chromosomal disorders as compared to naturally concieved newborns! True, the rate is still very low, but I'd like to see some statistical data on this...

And yes, these babies have so many disorders that they are VERY hard to manage. So many surgeries! Between those 3 babies we had a mix of traches, ostomies, nephrostomy tubes, dialysis catheters, casts/braces, etc.

Just got an update on baby...VERY sad. Her kidneys and liver are not functioning correctly and it sounds like she is beginning to circle the drain. She was not conceived by In Vitro...will keep u updated. Thanks for the referrals to websites...very informative.

Hi--

It is actually spelled VATER Syndrome and the letters stand for:

V-vertebral anomalies

A-anal atresia

T-tracheal-esophageal fistula

E-Esophageal atresia

R-renal anomalies

Another syndrome close to this is VACTERL syndrome which includes all of the above as well as Cardiac anomalies and Limb anomalies.

Specializes in all things maternity.

My youngest neice lost a baby to Vater Syndrome. Her first baby girl was born at 22 weeks...had cardiac anomalies, esophageal atresia, no rectum, one kidney, two ureters to that one kidney, two lady partss, but no uterus. She was a perfect little angel on the outside though. It was a very hard loss for all of us, but especially her parents. Alexis was not an invitro baby though. After Alexis, my neice had 2 perfectly normal and wonderful babies....another girl and a boy, then tragically lost another daughter at birth to a diaphramatic hernia. :o :crying2:

Angel

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

In January my eldest daughter will be starting her PhD research into the genetic anomalies that are associated with artificial reproductive technology. There are several, VATER/VACTERL being one. Some of the others include Angelman Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome and Beckwith-Weidemann Syndrome. There are several theories out there as to what is behind the increased incidence, and they will be looking at some of them, like the techniques used to achieve fertilization and the different types of culture media used to grow the embryos. She expects to be working on it for at least four years with a group of molecular biologists at McGill University in Montreal. Shall I keep y'all posted on their progress?

Definitely Jan! That sounds fascinating. I have often wondered about this too. It seems like a lot of the parents of infants with birth defects we look after have struggled through infertility.

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