Which congenital anomaly involves protrusion of the urinary bladder wall through the lower abdominal wall?

• A. Bladder Exstrophy
• B. Hydrocephalus
• C. Oligo
• D. Poly

Answer: (A)

Bladder exstrophy is a congenital defect in which the front wall of the bladder and the overlying lower abdominal wall fail to fuse. This results in the bladder mucosa being exposed to the outside at the lower abdomen, rather than sitting securely within the pelvis. It’s part of the exstrophy-epispadias complex and is often accompanied by other features such as epispadias and pubic symphysis diastasis. Because the bladder is not properly enclosed, prenatal or neonatal imaging may show a lower abdominal wall defect with protruding bladder tissue rather than a normal bladder in the pelvis. The other listed terms relate to fluid abnormalities or a brain condition and do not involve protrusion of the bladder wall.