Question:medium
Omphalocele is caused by?
Omphalocele is caused by?
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The midgut normally herniates into the cord then comes back. What happens if it never returns?
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Duplications of intestinal loops
- Abnormal rotation of the intestinal loop
- Failure of gut to return to the body cavity from its physiological herniation
- Reversed rotation of the intestinal loop
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The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: An omphalocele is a central abdominal wall defect at the umbilicus where viscera bulge out within a membrane-covered sac made of amnion and peritoneum.
Step 2: Normally the rapidly growing midgut temporarily herniates into the umbilical cord and then retracts back inside the belly during about the 6th to 10th weeks of fetal life.
Step 3: If that retraction fails and the bowel never comes back into the cavity, the organs stay outside under the covering, which is precisely an omphalocele.
Step 4: Duplication, abnormal rotation, and reversed rotation are separate rotational or structural problems and do not explain this defect.
\[\boxed{\text{Failure of gut to return from physiological herniation}}\]
Step 2: Normally the rapidly growing midgut temporarily herniates into the umbilical cord and then retracts back inside the belly during about the 6th to 10th weeks of fetal life.
Step 3: If that retraction fails and the bowel never comes back into the cavity, the organs stay outside under the covering, which is precisely an omphalocele.
Step 4: Duplication, abnormal rotation, and reversed rotation are separate rotational or structural problems and do not explain this defect.
\[\boxed{\text{Failure of gut to return from physiological herniation}}\]
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