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Possible basis for primary prevention of birth defects with folic acid

T K Eskes1

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy
|May 1, 1994
PubMed

Prepregnancy counselling is efficient in cases of chronic maternal disease, selection of medication and avoiding bad life habits. A new policy is the use of folic acid in the periconceptional period for the purpose of reducing the chance of having a baby with neural tube defects (NTD). Research in progress at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, is presented demonstrating that a derangement of methionine-homocysteine metabolism could be the underlying mechanism of pathogenesis and prevention with folic acid. Such derangement was found in +/- 20% of cases with NTD, recurrent miscarriage and placental infarcts (abruption) and offers new possibilities for primary prevention in three major areas.

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