Accumulation of fluid within the pericardium.

The presence of an excessive amount of fluid in the pleural cavity.

Generalized abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin, or in one or more cavities of the body.

The presence of excess amniotic fluid in the uterus during pregnancy.

Hydrops fetalis is a descriptive term for generalized edema of the fetus, with fluid accumulation in extravascular components and body cavities. It is not a diagnosis in itself, but a symptom and end-stage result of a wide variety of disorders. In the case of immune hydrops fetalis, a frequent cause is maternofetal incompatibility as in that related to a number of genetic anemias and metabolic disorders expressed in the fetus; in other instances, it remains idiopathic and likely multifactorial (summary by Bellini et al., 2009). Nonimmune hydrops fetalis accounts for 76 to 87% of all described cases of hydrops fetalis (Bellini et al., 2009). Genetic Heterogeneity of Hydrops Fetalis In southeast Asia, alpha-thalassemia (604131) is the most common cause of hydrops fetalis, accounting for 60 to 90% of cases. Almost all of these cases result from homozygous deletion of the HBA1 (141800) and HBA2 (141850) genes. A few cases have been reported that had 1 apparently normal alpha-globin gene, termed the hemoglobin H (613978) hydrops fetalis syndrome (summary by Chui and Waye, 1998). Other genetic disorders predisposing to NIHF include other congenital anemias, such as erythropoietic porphyria (e.g., 606938.0013), and many metabolic disorders, such as one form of Gaucher disease (e.g., 606463.0009), infantile sialic acid storage disease (269920), mucopolysaccharidosis type VII (253220), glycogen storage disease IV (232500), congenital disorder of glycosylation type Ia (212065), and disorders of lymphatic malformation (see, e.g., LMPHM1, 153100).