Potter sequence is the atypical physical appearance of a baby due to oligohydramnios experienced when in the uterus. It includes clubbed feet, pulmonary hypoplasia and cranial anomalies related to the oligohydramnios. Oligohydramnios is the decrease in amniotic fluid volume sufficient to cause deformations in morphogenesis of the baby. Oligohydramnios is the cause of Potter sequence but there are many things that can lead to oligohydramnios. It can be caused by renal diseases such as bilateral renal agenesis (BRA), atresia of the ureter or urethra causing obstruction of the urinary tract, polycystic or multicystic kidney diseases, renal hypoplasia, amniotic rupture, toxemia, or uteroplacental insufficiency from maternal hypertension. The term Potter sequence was initially intended to only refer to cases caused by BRA; however, it is now commonly used by many clinicians and researchers to refer to any case that presents with oligohydramnios or anhydramnios regardless of the source of the loss of amniotic fluid. Types
Since its initial characterization, Potter sequence has been defined into five distinct subclassifications. There are those in the medical and research fields that use the term Potter sequence to specifically refer to only cases of BRA, while other groups use the term to loosely refer to all instances of oligohydramnios and anhydramnios regardless of the specific cause. The assignment of nomenclature to the various causes (types) was employed in order to help clarify these discrepancies, but these subclassifications and nomenclature system have not caught on in the medical and research communities.
Survivors had growth impairment (44%) and cognitive and motor development delay (25%)The first child to survive Bilateral Renal Agenesis (BRA), Abigail Rose Herrera Beutler, was born in July 2013 to US Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler. A few weeks before she was born, Dr. Jessica Bienstock, a professor of maternal-fetal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, administered a series of saline solution injections into the mothers womb to help the babys lungs to develop. After Abigail was born, the procedure was considered a success. The infant did not need artificial respiration and could breathe on her own. Her parents kept her on kidney dialysis at home until old enough for a kidney transplant. On February 8, 2016, at the age of two, Abigail received a kidney from her father at the Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford in California. History
Bilateral renal agenesis (BRA) was first recognized as a defect of human fetal development in 1671 by Wolfstrigel.In 1946, Edith Potter (1901–1993) described a series of 20 cases with absent kidneys, noting the characteristic appearance of the head and lungs. Up until this time, the condition itself was considered to be extremely rare. However, in part to Potters work, it has come to light that the condition presents far more frequently than previously reported.