Holoprosencephaly: A Case Study for Communicative and Swallowing Management

Holoprosencephaly (HP) is a developmental central nervous system defect characterized by advanced facial anomalies resulting from the complete separation of two lobes of the cerebral hemispheres [1]. Prevalence is 1.31 in 10,000 births [2,3]. There is a parallel relationship between the combination of different etiological factors in different contributions and the changing clinical picture of the disease. Autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive inherited forms are reported in the literature [4,5]. Considering the studies on holoprosencephaly, developmental, neurological and medical problems were found in children with holoprosencephaly Cohen, 1982; Ersin & Ertugrul, 2005 [6,7]. Table 1 lists the physical findings that can be seen in individuals with HP. Postnatal care of HP is multidisciplinary, symptomatic and long-lasting cognitive and physical supportive therapy. Prognosis depends on the size of the associated medical and neurological disorders (Table 2). Table 1: Physical characteristics that can be seen in