Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T00:20:59.944Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 16.2 - Neural tube defects

Clinical management

from Section 2 - Fetal disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2013

Mark D. Kilby
Affiliation:
Department of Fetal Medicine, University of Birmingham
Anthony Johnson
Affiliation:
Baylor College of Medicine, Texas
Dick Oepkes
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics, Leiden University Medical Center
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Despite advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, neural tube defects (NTDs) remain a major source of morbidity and mortality in the United States and throughout the world. Daily consumption of 400 µg of folic acid before conception dramatically reduced the occurrence of NTDs, but prior to the institution of food fortification, only 29% of reproductive-aged women in the United States were taking a supplement containing this amount [1]. Although routine cereal grain fortification has resulted in a 19% decrease in prevalence, the prevalence values per 10 000 births remain 4.18, 3.37, and 2.90 respectively for Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic black women [2]. It is estimated that 23% of pregnancies in which the fetus is diagnosed with an NTD end in elective termination, but the remainder ultimately are delivered. Furthermore, the prenatal management of spina bifida differs depending on the country: as a rule, there is more support for aggressive and intensive treatment in Asia and some regions of the United States than in Europe, although immigration patterns may be changing this.

Although folate supplementation and advances in care may be decreasing the mortality associated with spina bifida, the 5-year mortality remains 79 per 1000 spina bifida births [3]. The mortality is as high as 35% among those with symptoms of brainstem dysfunction secondary to the Chiari II malformation [4]. In addition to sphincter dysfunction and lower extremity paralysis, 81% of affected children have hydrocephalus requiring treatment [5]. Although newer techniques are available for the treatment of hydrocephalus such as endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization, these are not particularly effective in the infant with myelomeningocele, and shunts with all of their problems remain the mainstay of treatment. Roughly 70% of affected individuals have an IQ above 80, but only 37% are able to live independently as adults and one-third need daily care [6]. The economic cost of caring for these patients is large. A recent estimate of incremental direct medical costs for the first year of life for a child with spina bifida compared with those without was $52415 for the first year of life and $560000 for the lifetime in 2003 dollars [7, 8].

Type
Chapter
Information
Fetal Therapy
Scientific Basis and Critical Appraisal of Clinical Benefits
, pp. 311 - 319
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Honein, MA, Paulozzi, LJ, Mathews, TJ, Erickson, JD, Wong, LY. Impact of folic acid fortification of the US food supply on the occurrence of neural tube defects. JAMA 2001;285(23):2981–6.Google Scholar
Williams, LJ, Mai, CT, Edmonds, LD, et al. Prevalence of spina bifida and anencephaly during the transition to mandatory folic acid fortification in the United States. Teratology 2002;66(1):33–9.Google Scholar
Bol, KA, Collins, JS, Kirby, RS. Survival of infants with neural tube defects in the presence of folic acid fortification. Pediatrics 2006;117(3):803–13.Google Scholar
Wong, LY, Paulozzi, LJ. Survival of infants with spina bifida: a population study, 1979–94. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2001;15(4):374–8.Google Scholar
Rintoul, N, Sutton, L, Hubbard, A, et al. A new look at myelomenigoceles: functional level, vertebral level, shunting, and the implications for fetal intervention. Pediatrics 2002;109:409–13.Google Scholar
Oakeshott, P, Hunt, GM. Long-term outcome in open spina bifida. Br J Gen Pract 2003;53(493):632–6.Google Scholar
Grosse, S, Ouyang, L, Collins, J, et al. Economic evaluation of a neural tube defect recurrence-prevention program. Am J Prev Med 2008;35:572–7.Google Scholar
Ouyang, L, Grosse, S, Armour, B, Waitzmann, N. Health care expenditures of children and adults with spina bifida in a privately insured US population. Birth Defects Res A 2007;79:552–8.Google Scholar
Meuli, M, Meuli-Simmen, C, Yingling, C, et al. In utero surgery rescues neurological function at birth in sheep with spina bifida. Nat Med 1995;1:342–7.Google Scholar
Yoshizawa, J, Sbragia, L, Paek, BW, et al. Fetal surgery for repair of myelomeningocele allows normal development of anal sphincter muscles in sheep. Pediatr Surg Int 2004;20(1):14–18.Google Scholar
Olguner, M, Akgur, FM, Ozdemir, T, Aktug, T, Ozer, E. Amniotic fluid exchange for the prevention of neural tissue damage in myelomeningocele: an alternative minimally invasive method to open in utero surgery. Pediatr Neurosurg 2000;33(5):252–6.Google Scholar
Correia-Pinto, J, Reis, JL, Hutchins, GM, et al. In utero meconium exposure increases spinal cord necrosis in a rat model of myelomeningocele. J Pediatr Surg 2002;37(3):488–92.Google Scholar
Bouchard, S, Davey, MG, Rintoul, NE, et al. Correction of hindbrain herniation and anatomy of the vermis after in utero repair of myelomeningocele in sheep. J Pediatr Surg 2003;38(3):451–8; discussion 458.Google Scholar
Osaka, K, Tanimura, T, Hirayama, A, Matsumoto, S. Myelomeningocele before birth. J Neurosurg 1978;49:711–24.Google Scholar
Hutchins, G, Meuli, M, Meuli-Simmen, C, et al. Acquired spinal cord injury in human fetuses with myelomeningocele. Pediatr Pathol Lab Med 1996;16:701–12.Google Scholar
George, TM, Cummings, TJ. The immunohistochemical profile of the myelomeningocele placode: is the placode normal? Pediatr Neurosurg 2003;39(5):234–9.Google Scholar
Korenromp, MJ, van Gool, JD, Bruinese, HW, Kriek, R. Early fetal leg movements in myelomeningocele. Lancet 1986;1(8486):917–18.Google Scholar
Sival, D, Begeer, J, Staal-Schreinmachers, A, et al. Perinatal motor behaviour and neurological outcome in spina bifida aperta. Early Human Devel 1997;50:27–37.Google Scholar
Drewek, M, Brunner, J, Whetsell W, N T. Quantitative analysis of the toxicity of human amniotic fluid to cultured rat spinal cord. Pediatr Neurosurg 1996;27:190–3.Google Scholar
Meuli, M, Meuli-Simmen, C, Hutchins, G, et al. The spinal cord lesion in human fetuses with myelomeningocele: implications for fetal surgery. J Pediatr Surg 1997;32:448–52.Google Scholar
Bruner, J, Tulipan, N, Richards, W. Endoscopic coverage of fetal open myelomeningocele in utero. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997;176:256–7.Google Scholar
Kohl, T, Hering, R, Heep, A, et al. Percutaneous fetoscopic patch coverage of spina bifida aperta in the human – early clinical experience and potential. Fetal Diagn Ther 2006;21(2):185–93.Google Scholar
Tulipan, N, Bruner, J. Myelomeningocele repair in utero: a report of three cases. Pediatr Neurosurg 1998;28:177–80.Google Scholar
Adzick, N, Sutton, L, Crombleholme, T, Flake, A. Successful fetal surgery for spina bifida. Lancet 1998;352:1675–6.Google Scholar
Bruner, J, Tulipan, N, Paschall, R, et al. Fetal surgery for myelomeningocele and the incidence of shunt-dependent hydrocephalus. JAMA 1999;282:1819–25.Google Scholar
Sutton, L, Adzick, N, Bilaniuk, L, et al. Improvement in hindbrain herniation demonstrated by serial fetal magnetic resonance imaging following fetal surgery for myelomeningocele. JAMA 1999;282:1826–31.Google Scholar
Grant, RA, Heuer, GG, Carrion, GM, Adzick, NS, et al. Morphometric analysis of posterior fossa after in utero myelomeningocele repair. J Neurosurg Pediatr 2011;7:362–8.Google Scholar
Danzer, E, Johnson, MP, Bebbington, M, et al. Fetal head biometry assessed by fetal magnetic resonance imaging following in utero myelomeningocele repair. Fetal Diagn Ther 2007;22(1):1–6.Google Scholar
Tulipan, N, Sutton, LN, Bruner, JP, et al. The effect of intrauterine myelomeningocele repair on the incidence of shunt-dependent hydrocephalus. Pediatr Neurosurg 2003;38(1):27–33.Google Scholar
Tubbs, RS, Chambers, MR, Smyth, MD, et al. Late gestational intrauterine myelomeningocele repair does not improve lower extremity function. Pediatr Neurosurg 2003;38(3):128–32.Google Scholar
Johnson, MP, Sutton, LN, Rintoul, N, et al. Fetal myelomeningocele repair: short-term clinical outcomes. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003;189(2):482–7.Google Scholar
Mazzola, CA, Albright, AL, Sutton, LN, et al. Dermoid inclusion cysts and early spinal cord tethering after fetal surgery for myelomeningocele. N Engl J Med 2002;347(4):256–9.Google Scholar
Lais, A, Kasabian, NG, Dyro, FM, et al. The neurosurgical implications of continuous neurourological surveillance of children with myelodysplasia. J Urol 1993;150(6):1879–83.Google Scholar
Nejat, F, Kazmi, SS, Habibi, Z, Tajik, P, Shahrivar, Z. Intelligence quotient in children with meningomyeloceles: a case-control study. J Neurosurg 2007;106(2):106–10.Google Scholar
Johnson, MP, Gerdes, M, Rintoul, N, et al. Maternal-fetal surgery for myelomeningocele: neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of age. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2006;194(4):1145–8.Google Scholar
Wilson, R, Lemerand, K, Johnson, M, et al. Reproductive outcomes in subsequent pregnancies after a pregnancy complicated by open maternal-fetal surgery (1996–2007). Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010;203:209e1–6.Google Scholar
Leung, EC, Sgouros, S, Williams, S, Johnson, K. Spinal lipoma misinterpreted as a meningomyelocele on antenatal MRI scan in a baby girl. Childs Nerv Syst 2002;18(6–7):361–3.Google Scholar
Midrio, P, Silberstein, H, Bilaniuk, L, Adzick, N, Sutton, L. Prenatal diagnosis of terminal myelocystocele in the fetal surgery era: case report. Neurosurgery 2002;50:1152–5.Google Scholar
Husler, MR, Danzer, E, Johnson, MP, Bebbington, M, et al. Prenatal diagnosis and postnatal outcome of fetal spinal defects without Arnold-Chiari II malformation. Prenat Diagn 2009;29:1050–7.Google Scholar
Adzick, NS, Thom, EA, Spong, CY, Brock, JW, et al. A randomized trial of prenatal versis postnatal repair of myelomeningocele. N Engl J Med 2011;364:993–1004.Google Scholar
Tran, K. Anesthesia for fetal surgery. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med 2010;15:40–5.Google Scholar
Schwarz, U, Galinkin, J. Anesthesia for fetal surgery. Semin Pediatr Surg 2003;12:196–201.Google Scholar
Rychik, J, Tian, Z, Cohen, MS, et al. Acute cardiovascular effects of fetal surgery in the human. Circulation 2004;110(12):1549–56.Google Scholar
Keswani, SG, Crombleholme, TM, Rychik, J, et al. Impact of continuous intraoperative monitoring on outcomes in open fetal surgery. Fetal Diagn Ther 2005;20(4):316–20.Google Scholar
Danish, SF, Samdani, AF, Storm, PB, Sutton, L. Use of allogeneic skin graft for the closure of large meningomyeloceles: technical case report. Neurosurgery 2006;58(4 Suppl 2):ONS-E376; discussion ONS-E376.Google Scholar
Simpson, JL, Greene, MF. Fetal surgery for myelomeningocele? N Engl J Med 2011;364:1076–7.Google Scholar
Peiro, J, Carreras, E, Guillen, G, et al. Therapeutic indications of fetoscopy: a 5-year institutional experience. J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech A 2009;19:229–36.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×