Spina Bifida Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Spina Bifida, including details on causes, prevention, spinal cord, treatment.

Trends in the postfortification prevalence of spina bifida and anencephaly in the United States.

Boulet SL, Yang Q, Mai C, Kirby RS, Collins JS, Robbins JM, Meyer R, Canfield MA, Mulinare J,

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. sboulet@cdc.gov

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of NTDs in the US declined significantly after mandatory folic acid fortification; however, it is not known if the prevalence of NTDs has continued to decrease in recent years relative to the period immediately following the fortification mandate. METHODS: Population-based data from 21 birth defects surveillance systems were used to examine trends in the birth prevalence of spina bifida and anencephaly during 1999-2000, 2001-2002, and 2003-2004. Prevalence data were stratified by non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic race or ethnicity. Prevalence ratios were calculated by dividing the birth prevalences during the later time periods (2001-2002 and 2003-2004) by the birth prevalences during 1999-2000. RESULTS: During 1999-2004, 3,311 cases of spina bifida and 2,116 cases of anencephaly were reported. Hispanic infants had the highest prevalences of NTDs for all years. For all infants, the combined birth prevalences of spina bifida and anencephaly decreased 10% from the 1999-2000 period to the 2003-2004 period. The decline in spina bifida (3%) was not significant; however the decline in anencephaly (20%) was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: While the prevalences of spina bifida and anencephaly in the United States have declined since folic acid fortification in the food supply began, these data suggest that reductions in the prevalence of anencephaly continued during 2001-2004 and that racial and ethnic and other disparities remain.

Published 28 July 2008 in Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol, 82(7): 527-32.
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Articles on Spina Bifida published 1 July 2008:

Quantitative diffusion tensor imaging and intellectual outcomes in spina bifida: laboratory investigation.   J Neurosurg Pediatrics, 2(1): 75-82.

OBJECT: Patients with spina bifida (SB) have variable intellectual outcomes. The authors used diffusion tensor (DT) imaging to quantify whole-brain volumes of gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and perform regional quantitative microstructural assessments of gray matter nuclei and white matter tracts in relation to intellectual outcomes in patients with SB. METHODS: Twenty-nine children with myelomeningoceles and 20 age- and sex-matched children with normal neural tube ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Spina Bifida published 2 June 2008:

Radiologically atypical congenital posterior fossa dermoid cyst presenting late in life.   J Clin Neurosci, 15(7): 835-8.

We report the case of a 74-year-old woman who presented with deterioration in gait, short-term memory loss and urinary incontinence. She had a past history of excision of a cervical dermal sinus tract at the age of 5 years. CT scan in 2004 revealed ventriculomegaly and an extremely hypodense ovoid structure lying in the midline low posterior fossa with calcification anteriorly. On MRI, the lesion was hypointense on T1-eighted and hyperintense on T2-weighted images, with incomplete suppression ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Spina Bifida published 12 May 2008:

Estimation of renal function in children and adolescents with spinal dysraphism.   J Urol, 179(6): 2407-9.

PURPOSE: In children with spinal dysraphism such as myelomeningocele the relation between muscle mass and body composition varies considerably. Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the relevance of renal function assessments done with serum creatinine. Since serum cystatin C has been suggested to be independent of body size and composition, this evaluation was compared to chromium(51) edetic acid clearance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Simultaneous measurements of cystatin C and chromium(51) edetic ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Spina Bifida published 22 February 2008:

Fortification of selected foodstuffs with folic acid in the UK: consumer research carried out to inform policy recommendations.   J Public Health (Oxf), 30(1): 23-9.

BACKGROUND: The UK Food Standards Agency Board identified four options to increase folate intake in women of reproductive age in order to reduce the risk of neural tube defect (NTD) affected pregnancies; these ranged from continuing with current policy, to mandatory fortification of bread or flour with folic acid. In order to appraise these options, the agency carried out a consultation, and also commissioned four pieces of research. This paper provides detailed information about two of the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Spina Bifida published 13 August 2007:

Patients with spina bifida and bladder cancer: atypical presentation, advanced stage and poor survival.   J Urol, 178(3): 798-801.

PURPOSE: Patients with neurogenic bladder dysfunction due to spina bifida have been reported to be at increased risk for bladder cancer. Recent publications suggest that bladder augmentation is also a significant risk factor. We reviewed our experience with treating patients with spina bifida and bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with spina bifida treated for bladder cancer between 1995 and 2005 were identified. Patient demographics, mode of bladder management, risk factors and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Spina Bifida published 6 August 2007:

What do we really know about the transition to adult-centered health care? A focus on cerebral palsy and spina bifida.   Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 88(8): 1064-73.

OBJECTIVES: To address the lack of synthesis regarding the factors, processes, and outcomes specific to the transition from child-centered to adult-centered health care for people with cerebral palsy (CP) and spina bifida (SB); more specifically, to identify barriers, to outline key elements, to review empirical studies, and to make clinical and research recommendations. DATA SOURCES: We searched Medline and CINAHL databases from 1990 to 2006 using the key words: transition, health care ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Spina Bifida published 28 May 2007:

The 894G>T variant in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene and spina bifida risk.   J Hum Genet, 52(6): 516-20.

The 894G>T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the endothelial NOS (NOS3) gene, has recently been associated with embryonic spina bifida risk. In this study, a possible association between the NOS3 894G>T SNP and spina bifida risk in both mothers and children in a Dutch population was examined using both a case-control design and a transmission disequilibrium test (TDT). Possible interactions between the NOS3 894G>T SNP and the MTHFR 677C>T SNP, elevated plasma homocysteine, and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Spina Bifida published 25 May 2007:

Duplication 16q12.1-q22.1 characterized by array CGH in a girl with spina bifida.   Eur J Med Genet, 50(3): 237-41.

We report a 7-year-old girl with spina bifida carrying a complex chromosome abnormality resulting in duplication 16q12.1-q22.1. An abnormal karyotype was identified involving the long arm of chromosome 11 and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to metaphase chromosomes revealed an insertion of part of chromosome 16 on chromosome 11. A detailed mapping of the chromosome abnormality using whole genome array based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) of the patient DNA revealed a ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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