Outcome of Myelomeningocele: The importance of prenatal diagnosis

Abstract

PURPOSE:: To determine the rate of prenatally diagnosed myelomeningocele (MMC) cases in a tertiary care neurosurgery department. METHODS:: Retrospective data analysis of patients with MMC attending the Neurosurgery Department, Uludag University School of Medicine, Bursa, Turkey, between January 2005 and June 2010 was performed. RESULTS:: Patient files of 78 patients were analysed. Twenty-six (42.6%) of our patients had been diagnosed prenatally. The number of mothers who underwent regular obstetrician and gynecologist examinations was 61 (78.2%). Twenty-six (42.6%) of these pregnant women were given a diagnosis of neural tube defect at 6 or 7 months of gestation. Only 1 patient who was evaluated as normal after fetal ultrasound by a radiologist was diagnosed as having myelomeningocele after birth; the remaining were examined by an obstetrician only during their pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS:: To decrease the birth rate of children with neural tube defects, exhaustive pregnancy examinations and follow-ups should be performed, not only by obstetricians but also by experienced radiologists. Copyright © 2013 by Lippincott Williams &Wilkins.