Burns
Volume 35, Issue 1 , Page 151, February 2009

Congenital burns?

King Khalid Hospital, Department of Surgery, King Fahad Street, Tabuk, Western 876, Saudi Arabia

Article Outline

 

Dear Sir,

I would like to thank Dr Rao for his interest in this article. In fact, I have been expecting such comments for a long time, since the article was published. I agree with Dr Rao regarding the meaning of the word ‘congenital’, although he did not mention any reference supporting this view. If we look up at the use of ‘congenital’ in the literature, we find that it has referred to conditions present at birth and due to human physical intervention, as in congenital facial paralysis related primarily to a difficult labour [1]. There are also reported cases of congenital genu recurvatum resulting from decreased amniotic fluid volume due to leakage following amniocentesis [2].

The definition of ‘congenital’ in the dictionary is: present at birth [3], or existing at or dating from birth [4]. Therefore, according to this definition, our case is congenital because the burns were there when the child was born [5]. It might be appropriate to mention that the word ‘congenital’ comes from the Latin ‘congenitus’, which is derived from ‘com’ (with) and ‘genitus’ (the past participle of gignere, to bring forth). The word ‘congenital’ has been used in English since about 1796.

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Conflict of interest 

This is to declare that the author has no financial and personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work.

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References 

  1. Lundstrom K. Congenital facial paralysis. http://www.emedicine.com/ent/TOPIC156.HTM (Accessed 2 April 2008).
  2. Gorincour G, Chotel F, Rudigoz RC, Guibal-Baggio AL, Berard J, Pracros JP. Prenatal diagnosis of congenital genu recurvatum following amniocentesis complicated by leakage. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2003;22:643–645
  3. Definition of congenital. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15599 (Accessed 2 April 2008).
  4. Definition of congenital. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/congenital.
  5. Suliman MT. Congenital burns. Burns. 2004;30:197–198

PII: S0305-4179(08)00126-5

doi:10.1016/j.burns.2008.04.003

Refers to article:

  • Congenital burns?

    P.P. Jagadish Rao, Ritesh G. Menezes
    Burns February 2009 (Vol. 35, Issue 1, Page 150)

Burns
Volume 35, Issue 1 , Page 151, February 2009

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