OBJECTIVE To determine trends in total prevalence of neural tube defects in South Australia during 1966-91, the impact of prenatal diagnosis on birth prevalence, and the effectiveness of prenatal screening for neural tube defects in 1986-91. DESIGN All births and terminations of pregnancy affected by neural tube defects and information on prenatal screening were ascertained from multiple sour...

Neural tube defects in Newfoundland SIR-It was recently suggested in this journal that the 1988-89 peak in the birth prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) in eastern Turkey was due to the Chernobyl disaster.' Two other reports from the western hemisphere have described dramatic increases in the birth prevalence of NTD. In Jamaica the increase in several types of NTD between July 1989 and Marc...

Neural tube defects of the brain and spinal cord, among the most common birth defects in the United States, cause neurologic morbidity from the lesions themselves and from associated hydrocephalus and Arnold-Chiari malformation. Because the myelomeningoceles, and encephaloceles are repaired surgically within hours of birth, neonatal anesthetic management with attention to fluids, body temperatu...

THE aetiology of anencephaly and/or spina bifida (neural tube defects) is still obscure. Most investigators are now agreed on a multifactorial causation with an important genetic factor and a substantial environmental component. The genetic factor is probably polygenic, but the mechanism by which it acts remains unknown. Recently, drugs that stimulate ovulation, particularly clomiphene, have be...

Neural tube defects (NTDs)-malformations secondary to abnormal neural tube closure between the third and fourth weeks of gestational age-have a complex and imperfectly understood etiology in which both genetic and environmental factors appear to be involved. A number of specific chromosomal or single-gene disorders, presumably not affected by environmental influences, are associated with the de...

A protective effect of folate against the development of neural tube defects (NTDs), specifically, anencephaly and spina bifida, is now well recognized, having been established by a chain of clinical research studies over the past half century. This article summarizes the more important of these studies, which have led to the current situation in which all women capable of becoming pregnant are...

The neural tube defects (NTD) are a group of congenital malformations which are depressingly familiar to many obstetricians in the UK. Despite intensive investigation, their basic aetiology remains unknown. It seems probable that genetic factors are involved, interacting with environmental agents early in gestation to prevent closure of the neural tube. The number of the mutant genes is unknown...

OBJECTIVE To find the prevalence of neural tube defects (NTDs), and compare the findings with local and international data, and highlight the important role of folic acid supplementation and flour fortification with folic acid in preventing NTDs. METHODS This is a retrospective study of data retrieved from the medical records of live newborn infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Uni...

OBJECTIVE To determine if the fortification of wheat and maize flours with iron and folic acid - which became mandatory in Brazil from June 2004 - is effective in the prevention of neural tube defects. METHODS Using data from national information systems on births in central, south-eastern and southern Brazil, we determined the prevalence of neural tube defects among live births and stillbirt...