Neural Tube Defects among Neonates Admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Al-Yermouk Teaching Hospital

Najem, Bushra; Dhia Al-Deen, Lamia

	Neural Tube Defects among Neonates Admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Al-Yermouk Teaching Hospital
IRAQI JOURNALOF COMMUNITY MEDICINE
Article 1, Volume 28, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 13-16
Authors
Bushra Najem; Lamia Dhia Al-Deen
Abstract
Background: Neural tube defects constitute one of the most common congenital malformations in newborns. Objectives: To find outthe admission rate of neural tube defects among the live birth neonates admitted to the Neonatal intensive care unit in Al-Yermouk Teaching Hospital. . Patients and methods: All cases of neural tube defectsadmitted to Neonatal care unit in Al-Yermouk teaching hospital for the period extended from1st June 2009 to31st May 2010 were included in this study. Data were collected on neonates and mothers according to special questioner sheet, all affected neonates were examined thoroughly. Results: The total lived birth was 13634, the total number of lived neonates with congenital malformation were 71, of them 38(53.5%) had neural tube defects, admission rate of neural tube defects during study period was 2.7/1000 live births, myelomeningocele constituted the most common cause (60.5%). It was found that female:male ratio was 2.1:1, more than two thirds of mothers aged 20-30 years (65.7%). More than half(55.2%) of the neonates were offspring of consanguineousmarriage, 68.5% of mothers attended antenatal care, 31.5% of mothers received regular folate supplementation during affected period of pregnancy (the first trimester), but no one received preconception folate. Conclusion: Thefrequency of neural tube defects was still high in comparison with other studies.
Keywords
YermoukHospital; Neural tube defects

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