La Morula

Didelphic: complete failure of Müllerian ducts to fuse. 2 uterus (each with a single horn), 2 cervix (sometimes they can share 1 cervix), 2 vaginas.

Unicornate: failure of 1 Müllerian duct to develope. Single horn. Banana-shaped. No opening to vagina, adolescent pt complains of monthly pain bc there’s no outlet for menses (this is how is usually dx)

Arcuate: failure of median septum to completely disolve. Normal shape uterus with small midline indentation.

Septate: failure of median septum to disolve. Partial: median septum fails to disolve at the top; single uterine cavity devided at the top in 2 horns, 1 cervix. Complete: median septum persists in the entire uterus, 2 single-horned uteri, 1 cervix, 1 vagina.

Bicornuate: MC congenital uterine anomaly. Partial: Müllerian ducts fuse at the bottom, but  fails to fuse at top; 2 horns at the top, single uterine cavity, cervix, vagina. Complete: failure of Müllerian ducts to fuse at the top; 2 separate single-horn uterine bodies, sharing 1 cervix, 1 vagina. 

This uterine anomalies can lead to preterm delivery and malpresentation in pregnancy, except for arcuate uterus.

There’s one more anomaly  that needs to be mentioned:

DES uterus: daughters of mothers exposed to DiEthylStilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy. They can present with hypoplastic uterus, T-shaped cavity, incompletely formed cervix (leads to cervical insufficiency). High risk of clear cell carcinoma of vagina.

Scientists report in Nature Medicine using human pluripotent stem cells to grow human intestinal tissues that have functioning nerves in a laboratory, and then using these to recreate and study a severe intestinal nerve disorder called Hirschsprung’s disease.

Published online Nov. 21, the findings describe an unprecedented approach to engineer and study tissues in the intestine – the body’s largest immune organ, its food processor and main interface with the outside world. Study authors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center say the paper puts medical science a step closer to using human pluripotent stem cells (which can become any cell type in the body) for regenerative medicine and growing patient-specific human intestine for transplant.

“One day this technology will allow us to grow a section of healthy intestine for transplant into a patient, but the ability to use it now to test and ask countless new questions will help human health to the greatest extent,” said Michael Helmrath, MD, co-lead study investigator and surgical director of the Intestinal Rehabilitation Program at Cincinnati Children’s.

Miracle baby born still inside its amniotic sac

The tiny baby was born 26 weeks prematurely, with its placenta and umbilical cord still inside the bag of fluid. He had to be removed by a caesarean.

In Video, child was yawning inside his amniotic sac, before being freed by a doctor. He can even be seen wriggling around and moving his arms. A doctor can later be seen snipping the amniotic sac open. As the baby comes out he gives a little cry as he takes his first breath.

A team of researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has used a gene-editing tool known as CRISPR to repair the gene that causes sickle cell disease in human stem cells, which they say is a key step toward developing a gene therapy for the disorder. The team went on to demonstrate that the mended cells could make a functioning hemoglobin molecule, which carries oxygen in normal red blood cells, and then successfully transplanted the stem cells into mice. The researchers say the study represents a proof of concept for the repair of blood-borne genetic diseases, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia.

Dutch open their first ‘poop bank’ to treat gut diseases

After blood and sperm banks, Dutch researchers have now opened the country’s first “poop bank” in a rare and cutting-edge branch of medicine to treat people with chronic gut infections.                                

“Our poop bank will help give doctors and hospitals access to transplants of fecal matter,” Ed Kuijper, professor of microbiology at Leiden University, told AFP.

The Netherlands Donor Feces Bank (NDFB) will collect, store and distribute the stools necessary to help with such transplants.