Contribution to the etiology of spina bifida cystica

Authors report of bone anomalies found out by plain X-ray examination in 61 mothers and 40 fathers of children with spina bifida cystica. There was ascertained hyper-pneumatisation of skull bones 18 times, platybasia or basilar impression 15-times, spina bifida occulta 11-times and deformation of lumbosacral vertebrae 8-times. Only in 49 parents of handicapped children the roentgenological picture of their skeleton was physiological. In comparison with the control group of 100 persons chosen by random access the incidence of skeleton anomalies of parents of children with congenital defects of the neural tube was significantly higher.