Medical Hypotheses
Volume 58, Issue 2 , Pages 113-114, February 2002

The role of maternal reproductive history in the aetiology of neural tube defects

  • S. Bianca

      Affiliations

    • Registro Siciliano Malformazioni Congenite, Catania, Italy
    • Dottorato di Ricerca in Malattie Genetiche dell'Età Evolutiva, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy
    • ,
  • M. Bianca

      Affiliations

    • Registro Siciliano Malformazioni Congenite, Catania, Italy
    • ,
  • F. Bonaffini

      Affiliations

    • Dipartimento Scienze Microbiologiche e Ginecologiche, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy
    • ,
  • G. Ettore

      Affiliations

    • Registro Siciliano Malformazioni Congenite, Catania, Italy
    • Dottorato di Ricerca in Malattie Genetiche dell'Età Evolutiva, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy
    • Dipartimento Scienze Microbiologiche e Ginecologiche, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy
    • Divisione di Ostetricia e Ginecologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Garibaldi, Catania, Italy

Received 8 February 2001; accepted 5 July 2001.

Abstract 

The contribution of environmental factors to the aetiology of neural tube defects (NTD) has been stressed over recent years and many different risk factors have been proposed. We evaluated the reproductive history of 113 NTD cases to investigate the possible role of maternal age, gestational age, sex, parity and previous pregnancy. Our results show that parity and previous spontaneous abortion can be considered as risk factors for NTD and that an accurate evaluation of reproductive history can be useful for genetic counselling. The known benefits of periconceptional intervention in reducing the incidence of NTD in high risk populations, together with our results, means that mothers with a positive reproductive history for spontaneous abortion and for multiparity are ideal subjects for folic acid periconceptional management.

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  • f1 Correspondence to: Sebastiano Bianca, Registro Siciliano Malformazioni Congenite, Dipartimento di Pediatria, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123-Catania, Italy. E-mail: sebastiano.bianca@tiscalinet.it

PII: S0306-9877(01)91468-9

doi:10.1054/mehy.2001.1468

Medical Hypotheses
Volume 58, Issue 2 , Pages 113-114, February 2002

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