Epidemiologic aspects of neural tube defects in South East Iran

To investigate the rate of neural tube defects (NTDs) and their relation to gender, maternal age, consanguineous marriage, season, and drug consumption in Birjand, Iran.

This research was carried out on 16,785 live or stillborn newborns in Birjand, Iran from April 1997 to December 2001.

The rate of NTDs was 2.97 per 1000. This rate was 1.97 per 1000 in males, and 3.55 per 1000 in females. The rate of anencephaly was 1.37 per 1000, and spina bifida was 0.88 per 1000. We found that 32% of mothers with affected newborns had taken drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy, 90% of mothers did not consume folate before and during the first trimester, and 54% of parents had consanguineous marriage.

We concluded that folate deficiency, usage of drugs during pregnancy, and consanguineous marriage may play a role of predisposition to NTD.