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anencephalic

anencephalic

1 9.9
Having little or no brain when a baby is born
  • adjective
  • /ˌænənˈsɛfəlɪk/
  • Specialized
: anencefálico
  • There are many complications that can occur during the delivery of an anencephalic baby; they don't have any skull bones, which are necessary for cervical dilation.
  • anencephalic baby
  • anencephalic infant
  • anencephalic newborn

Examples

  • Therefore, anencephalic children would only rarely be able to donate organs.

    Blog text (8)
  • Have you ever seen an anencephalic baby?

  • The organs of an anencephalic child can only be removed if the child has been certified dead.

    Blog text (8)
  • Anencephalic children do not have a rear brain, but they do have a forebrain which usually functions normally at birth.

    Blog text (8)
  • Take an anencephalic child whose mother dies in childbirth, whose father is dead, and who has no relatives.

    Blog text (20)
  • She was pregnant with an anencephalic fetus; its head and brain were not formed correctly.

    Blog text (34)
  • Consider recent proposals from the highest ranks of the American medical profession to allow harvesting of organs from anencephalic infants before death.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The organs of an anencephalic child can only be removed if the child has been certified dead.

  • To be sure, not all doctors and nurses view anencephalic children as monsters.

Synonyms

anencephalous
vsanencephalic
  • Specialized
9.9

Born without most or all of the brain

is the medical term for the same congenital absence

Surface Forms

anencephalic positive

Morphology

anencephalic = anencephaly (opaque) = an + encephal + ic

The adjective is a straightforward noun-to-adjective formation: anencephaly + -ic.

Etymology

The word anencephalic comes from a- 'without' and encephalon 'brain'. So it literally means 'without a brain' and is used for babies born with little or no brain.