Short‐term results of patients with neural tube defects followed‐up in the Konya region, Turkey

Abstract

Background: Additional congenital anomalies have often been found in patients with neural tube defect (NTD). We aimed to find out the clinical features, short term prognosis, treatment approaches, and systemic anomalies of NTD patients in the Konya region. Method: A total of 186 newborn babies with NTD were retrospectively included in the study and all were assessed in detail for congenital anomalies and clinical features. Results: When the application month of the patients was examined, it was seen that the most frequent month was July. Of 186 babies, 101(54.3%) had meningomyelocele, 53 (28.5%) had meningocele, 13 (7.0%) had encephalocele, 16 (8.6%) had spina bifida occulta, and 4 (2.1%) had anencephaly. Of these patients, 97 (52.2%) were male and 89 (47.8%) were female. Hydrocephalus was an almost constant finding and was found in 140 (75.3%) patients. 51 (27.4%) patients had congenital heart disease (CHD). The most common CHD was atrial septal defect 22.3%. Orthopedic anomaly was detected in 51 (27.4%) patients, nephrological anomaly was found in 47 (25.3%) of the cases, congenital hypothyroidism was diagnosed in 14 (7.5%) patients with NTD. The mortality rate of patients diagnosed with NTD was 7.5%. The rates of premature delivery and consanguinity between parents were higher in patients with NTD. Conclusions: Our results indicate that at least one congenital anomaly is also present in about two-thirds of newborn babies with NTD, and these anomalies significantly increase their morbidity and mortality. All newborn babies with NTD should be screened for additional congenital anomalies and evaluated with more organized, multidisciplinary methods. K E Y W O R D Scongenital anomalies, congenital hypothyroidism, folic acid, hydrocephalus, neural tube defect

Pregnancy Wastage Due to Fetal Congenital Malformations

“…female babies (2.14%) account more than male babies (1.24%). In contrast, malformations were found to be more common in male fetuses (0.60%) than female fetuses (0.25%) in a study (7,11). However, in our study, the overall incidence of malformation was high in female fetuses (54%).…”

“…Out of which hydrocephalus ( Figure 1) and anencephaly were the commonest. It is comparable to a study by Yorulmaz et al in which hydrocephalus is most common (75.3%) NTD (11). CNS anomalies top the list as depicted in the studies by Sachdeva et al (59.57%) (5), Gaur et al (41.09%) (7), Hussain et al (20.35%) (5,7,8).…”

Association between preconception paternal smoking and birth defects in offspring: evidence from the database of the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project in China

“…In addition, potential confounding factors, such as folic acid supplementation and regional environmental variation, were considered and matched in our study design. The effect of folic acid supplementation on birth defects is controversial; [21][22][23] nevertheless, in this study, maternal folic acid intake was well matched, and the association between paternal smoking and birth defects was observed both in the population-based cohort analysis and in the matched case-control analysis.…”

Evaluations of Pregnancies Diagnosed with Fetal Neural Tube Defects in Our Center

“…Accordingly, two studies evaluated cases in the prenatal period and reported the anencephaly ratio of 42.8% and 54.1%, occipital encephalocele 17.9% and 5.4%, spina bifida 39.3% and 40.5%, respectively [24,25]. A study evaluated cases at the delivery time found anencephaly 2.1%, encephalocele 7.0%, and spina bifida 91.9% [26]. n this study, we found that the ratio of anencephaly 35.29%, encephalocele 25%, spina bifida 39.27% and similar to studies that evaluated prenatal cases.…”