Prenatal diagnosis of open spina bifida in Emilia-Romagna

To report recent data on the epidemiology of pregnancies affected by open spina bifida in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.

All cases of open spina bifida diagnosed in the Emilia-Romagna region between 2001 and 2011 and reported to the IMER regional registry were included in the study group. The pregnancy outcome was retrospectively assessed.

In the study period out of 390,978 babies born in Emilia-Romagna 126 cases of open spina bifida were reported to the IMER registry, resulting in a global prevalence of 3.2 per 10,000 births. Prenatal diagnosis was achieved in the vast majority of these cases (105/126; 83.3%) and in a great proportion of those women (85/105; 80.9%) who opted for termination of pregnancy.

In a wide region of northern Italy where ultrasound anomaly scan is routinely offered to the general population, the vast majority of cases of open spina bifida are diagnosed antenatally and terminated electively.