Fetal surgery for neural tube defects

Neural tube defects

lower limbs and other major organ malformations.4 Complex dysraphic states due to aberrant integration of the notochord include split cord malformation (SCM) or diastematomyelia: a congenital spinal anomaly in which there is longitudinal splitting of the spinal cord.5,6 Causes of NTDs are multifactorial and defects in several different genes can underlie the genetic basis of this disease.1 Howe...

Neural-tube defects.

Neural tube defects.

The purpose of this article is to describe the etiology of neural tube defects (NTDs) and the role of folic acid in their prevention. NTDs are all too common and devastating outcomes of many pregnancies. The brain and spinal cord malformations that develop during gestation in the NTD-affected pregnancies are expressed through various anomalies. Estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and P...

Strategies for Prevention of Neural Tube Defects

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are congenital malformations of the brain and spinal cord caused by the failure of neural tubes to close between 21 and 28 days after conception (Sadler, 2005). Any disruption of neurulation during or prior to this time may result in a defect or failure of neural tube closure. Non-invasive prenatal diagnostic testing by ultrasound and maternal serum screening, which s...

Antenatal screening for neural tube defects.

1 MRC Vitamin Study Research Group. Prevention of neural tube defects: results of the MRC vitamin study. Lancet 1991;338:132–7. 2 Little J, Elwood M. Geographic variation. In: Elwood JM, Little J, Elwood JH, eds. The epidemiology and control of neural tube defects. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992:96–145. 3 Rogers SC, Weatherall JAC. Anencephalus, spina bifida and congenital hydrocephalus....