conference programme and abstracts book - Sudanjp.org

Neural Tube Defects: Incidence, Pattern and Short-TermOutcomeIn Omdurman Maternity Hospital, SudanDr. Ghada Eltahir and Prof. Salah Ahmed IbrahimIn the developed countries a great improvement had occurred in the management ofchildhood illnesses which made the congenital diseases a major cause of infant morbidityand mortality, neural tube defects being one of them. In the last two decades agreat effort had been done on NTDs leading to reduction in their incidence.The objectives of this prospective hospital-based study were to: determine the incidenceof NTDs in Omdurman Maternity Hospital, describe the spectrum of NTDs,detect any associated congenital anomalies, assess the role of the socio-demographicfactors and to study the short term outcome ofNTDs.All babies born in Omdurman Maternity Hospital during the period from the first ofFebruary 2003 to the 31 first of January 2004 with clinically detectable NTDs wereexamined and a consecutive birth was taken as a control.The surviving cases were followedup for the following three months.The incidence of NTDs was 3.48/1000, 50% of the cases were myelomeningocele,38% were anencephaly, 10% were encephalocele and one case was iniencephaly. Mostof cases were either stillborn or died within the neonatal period. The male to femaleratio was 1:5, 20% of the NTDs had other congenital anomalies. About 55.5% of themothers were less than 25 years of age and there was a significant association betweenNTDs and mother age (relative risk 2.3p