AbstractSirenomelia, the Mermaid Syndrome is a rare and lethal congenital anomaly with an incidence of one in 60,000 pregnancies. Sirenomelia is characterized by fusion of the lower limbs, commonly associated with renal agenesis, absent external genitalia and other gastrointestinal defects. We report a case of sirenomelia in a stillborn 26 wks fetus received for autopsy. Apart from the characteristic features it was also associated with single umbilical artery, potter’s facies and hypoplasia of various internal organs. Ultrasound may be useful in the early antenatal detection of this anomaly however coexisting oligohydramnios as in this case makes the visualisation of caudal extremity difficult. Early prenatal diagnosis should be the aim to minimize the trauma related to the termination of pregnancy at advanced gestation.
Keywords: Sirenomelia; Mermaid syndrome.