Trends in the early care of infants with myelomeningocele in the United States 2012-2018. Childs Nerv Syst 2023 Sep;39(9):2413-2421
Date
10/30/2022Pubmed ID
36308541DOI
10.1007/s00381-022-05704-3Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85140992531 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 2 CitationsAbstract
PURPOSE: The early care of children with spina bifida has changed with the increasing availability of fetal surgery and evidence that fetal repair improves the long-term outcomes of children with myelomeningocele. We sought to determine current trends in the prevalence and early care of children with myelomeningocele using a national administrative database.
METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional cohort study of infants with spina bifida admitted within the first 28 days of life using the 2012-2018 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Database. Patients with spina bifida were identified by ICD code and stratified into a cohort with a coded neonatal repair of the defect and those without a coded repair. This database had no identifier specific for fetal surgery, but it is likely that a substantial number of infants without a coded repair had fetal surgery.
RESULTS: We identified 5,090 patients with a coded repair and 5,715 without a coded repair. The overall prevalence of spina bifida was 3.94 per 10,000 live births. The percentage of patients without neonatal repair increased during the study period compared to those with repair (p = 0.0002). The cohort without neonatal repair had a higher risk of death (p < 0.001), prematurity (p < 0.001), and low birth weight (p < 0.001). More shunts were placed in patients who underwent neonatal repair (p < 0.001). Patients without neonatal repair were less likely to have public insurance (p = 0.0052) and more likely to reside in zip codes within the highest income quartile (p = 0.0002).
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of spina bifida from 2012 to 2018 was 3.94 per 10,000 live births, with an increasing number of patients without neonatal repair of the defect, suggesting increased utilization of fetal surgery. Patients without neonatal repair had a higher risk of death, prematurity, and low birth weight but were more likely to have commercial insurance and reside in high-income zip codes.
Author List
Best BJ, Cabacungan ET, Cohen SS, Kim I, Sherburne EC, Sawin KJ, Roach A, Foy ABAuthors
Erwin Cabacungan MD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinSusan Cohen MD Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Andrew Foy MD Adjunct Associate Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Irene Kim MD Assistant Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
ChildCross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Meningomyelocele
Pregnancy
Prenatal Care
Retrospective Studies
Spinal Dysraphism
United States
