The Persistent Cloaca

Normally, at birth, females have separate perineal orifices for the urinary, reproductive and digestive tracts, while males have individual openings for the urogenital and digestive tracts. However, during fetal development, both sexes pass through a stage when all the systems empty into a common chamber, the cloaca. The cloaca opens to the exterior through a solitary opening until it divides into the various systems. Occasionally, the tracts do not separate and the baby is born with a persistent cloaca. It is a complex anomaly that is often associated with abnormalities in other systems that have to be taken into consideration to manage the patient appropriately.