Trisomy 13, also called Patau syndrome is a chromosomal disorder caused by a third copy of chromosome 13. It causes severe neurological and heart defects; approximately 80% of children born with this defect die shortly after birth.

Infants born with trisomy 13 often have several of the following conditions: heart defects, kidney defects, neurological problems, microcephaly (small head), holoprosencephaly (failure of the brain to divide into halves during development), severe mental deficiency, polydactylism (extra fingers or toes), rocker-bottom feet, microphthalmia (small eyes), malformed nose, and cleft lip and/or cleft palate.The existence of many of these life-threatening medical defects cause many infants with trisomy 13 to die within their first days or weeks of life.

For more information on Trisomy 13, visit:

• eMedicine – Patau Syndrome
• Genetic Home Referrence – What is Trisomy 13 – U.S. National Library of Medicine
• iHealth -Trisomy 13 Syndrome Healthcare Information Directory
• MedlinePlus – Trisomy 13 A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine from the National Institutes of Health

Ending a Wanted Pregnancy stories of Trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome)