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Prevalence and Outcome of Congenital Heart Disease in Patients With Neural Tube Defect

Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Inonu University, gul_endam{at}yahoo.com

Çaatay Önal, MD

Department of Neurosurgery, Inonu University

Ayhan Koçak, MD

Department of Neurosurgery, Inonu University

Cemit Karakurt, MD

Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Inonu University

Özkan Ate, MD

Department of Neurosurgery, Inonu University

Süleyman R. Çayli, MD

Department of Neurosurgery, Inonu University

Saim Yololu, PhD

Department of Biostatistics Inonu University, Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Malatya, Turkey

A prospective clinical study was designed to establish the risk factors, the prevalence, and the progress of congenital heart defects in children with neural tube defects. Study included 90 children with a mean age of 13.5 ± 30.4 months. There were 53 (59%) patients with spina bifida occulta and 37 (41%) patients with spina bifida aperta. The overall prevalence of congenital heart disease was 27.8% (40.5% in spina bifida aperta and 18.9% in spina bifida occulta; P = .024). There was no statistically significant difference for maternal age, usage of periconceptional folate, and maternal diabetes between the patient and control groups. The authors conclude that congenital heart defects are more common than reported in neural tube defects, and screening echocardiograms are warranted. This should be kept in mind especially in patients requiring minor or major surgical procedures. Furthermore, routine obstetric examination and therefore the use of periconceptional folic acid during pregnancy is still lacking in our country.

Key Words: neural tube defect • congenital heart defect

This version was published on May 1, 2008

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 23, No. 5, 526-530 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0883073807309789


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