Recién nacidos vivos con defectos del tubo neural en el Instituto Nacional de Perinatología de la Ciudad de México. Características demográficas y epidemiológicas

Abstract

Introduction

After congenital hydrocephalus, spinal dysraphisms represent the second cause of neurosurgical consultation within the National Institute of Perinatology ‘Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes’ in Mexico City (INPer). The objective of the present study is to establish the demographic and epidemiological characteristics of live newborns with neural tube defects, during the past year.

Material and methods

We carried out a descriptive, observational, retrospective study, including all live births within the Institute and diagnosis at discharge of cranial and/or spinal neural tube defects. The analysis is presented with descriptive statistics, using frequency tables, medians and ranges.

Results

Fifteen live births with neural tube closure defects were recorded, of which 3 had more than one defect other than the Chiari malformation, and 80% presented hydrocephalus. All the mothers reported adequate intake of folate. There was no history of relatives with dysraphisms or maternal consumption of anti epileptic drugs. One patient with a closed defect developed fistula and infectious ventriculitis as a surgical complication.

Conclusion

The number of cases attended in the INPer, due to neural tube defects, tripled compared to the previous year. The post natal care provided showed fewer complications than those reported in the literature, specifically infectious complications, due to timely multidisciplinary care and possibly due to the surgical closure of all open neural tube defects within the first 24 h.