A short while ago we told you about a survey we conducted on “The Age of Diagnosis for Poland Syndrome”  We still get people adding comments to this and today we share a rare event of a baby being diagnosed almost at birth.

“This is a good example, our son was diagnosed about 5 minutes after delivery, no one noticed until I did! They put him directly on my chest and I started playing with fingers and toes and I saw how deformed his hand was and it was the most traumatic experience ever, then they took him away from me and placed him under the warmer and I saw the right side of his chest sinking way in and then bubble way out when he was breathing so then I knew something was terribly wrong with his chest He’s missing ribs on the front right side and the pectoralis major and minor muscle He’s so awesome though! He just turned ONE and he amazes me every day with how he finds his own way!”

This and one other are the only cases we have heard of where a baby has been diagnosed at birth. Poland syndrome is rare. The visual difference of a newborns hand does not always reconcile to being Poland Syndrome there are other syndromes that are similar in physicality. The chest area on the same side where muscles may be undeveloped or simply not formed, doesn’t become visually apparent until babies grow and sometimes it’s never noticed. However, in this case the chest area was noticeable immediately.

Poland Syndrome takes on many varying forms. In the fact that it is a syndrome, by definition this gives rise to variations. It is not normally life threatening. But you should always seek medical advice. If you’re not convinced by the first professional you talk to then ask someone else for a second opinion. Getting a scan of the chest region can reveal the extent of any problems.

Poland Syndrome can be linked to other illnesses as we discovered when we shared this story with our readers about a family who appear to show there is some genetic link to Poland Syndrome. So why not share your experience with us. We’re learning all the time. You can email us pip.charity@gmail.com feel free to include any pictures you’d like to share too.