Mayo A, Berbrayer D: From wheelchair to cane: elective transtibial amputations in a patient with spina bifida. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2015;94:e107Ye110. Spina bifida is associated with foot deformities, which may lead to foot ulcers, osteomyelitis, and limb amputation. Calcanectomy and Symes amputations have been reported successful in spina bifida. There is lack of evidence for transtibial ampu...

BACKGROUND this study aimed to compare mental health of mothers of children with spina bifida with mothers of able-bodied controls. METHODS eighty-one mothers of children with spina bifida aged 1-18 years completed the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI/SF). The controls were 69 mothers of children with acute, non-disabling illnesses. Each chil...

PURPOSE It is still largely unknown how neural tube defects in spina bifida affect the nerves at the level of the sacral plexus. Visualizing the sacral plexus in 3 dimensions could improve our anatomical understanding of neurological problems in patients with spina bifida. We investigated anatomical and microstructural properties of the sacral plexus of patients with spina bifida using diffusio...

Eight of the 22 patients had spina bifida aperta, and 14 had spina bifida occulta. These included eight cases with repaired myelomeningocele, seven with an intraspinal lipoma and tethering of cord , three with dermal sinuses, and one with diastematomyelia. Bulging and low signal intensity of the nucleus pulposus on T2-weighted images are the criteria for disk degeneration [1 , 2] . In our study...

INTRODUCTION The intake of folic acid before conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy can prevent spina bifida. This paper describes folic acid intake in women in Gulu district in northern Uganda. METHODS Structured interviews were held with 394 women attending antenatal care (ANC), 15 mothers of children with spina bifida, and 35 health workers in 2012 and 2013. SPSS16 was used...

OBJECTIVE To design and evaluate a camp-based intervention, the goal of which was to increase independence among children, adolescents, and adults with spina bifida. METHODS An intervention targeting independence was embedded within a typical week long camp experience. The intervention consisted of the following: collaborative (i.e., parent and camper) goal identification, group sessions cons...

In this paper, I present a viewpoint about prevention and spina bifida that is not usually expressed within the occupational therapy literature. Using an autoethnographic account, I convey my experiences as a person with impairments from spina bifida in order to problematize current preventive efforts undertaken to eradicate this birth defect. This self-reflexive account connects my personal ex...

OBJECTIVE Based on social ecological theory, this study examined the joint relations among adolescents' family, peer, and school contexts and depressive symptoms in youth with spina bifida using cumulative, protective, and specific effects models. METHOD Sixty families of adolescents with spina bifida and 65 comparison families reported on adolescents' positive experiences within these contex...

Children and adolescents who have decreased mobility due to spina bifida may be at increased risk for the components of metabolic syndrome, including abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia due to low physical activity. Like their nondisabled peers, adolescents with spina bifida that develop metabolic risk factors early in life have set the stage for adult disease. Exercise inte...

There are many reports that show the teratogenic effects of phenobarbital can be decreased by stimulation of maternal immune system. Therefore, in this study, the prophylactic effects of levamisole and vitamin E on teratogenic effects of phenobarbital were compared. This study was performed on 20 pregnant rats that were divided into four groups. Control group received normal saline and test gro...