Spina Bifida is one in a group of serious birth defects of the central nervous system, which
is composed of the brain and spinal cord. These birth defects are often referred to a neural
In this brith defect a part of the spine which normally surrounds and protects the spina
cord or nervous tissue fails to form a complete ring and the parts remain seperated. There
are three forms of Spina bifida with various degrees of severity. They are Spina Bifida
occulata, meningocele, and meningonmyelocele. The latter being the most severe form of
Many infants born with this form of Spina bifida are so severely abnormal that they do not
survive; but there is an intermediate group in which even surgical internvention id
successful that child is left with partial or complete paresis of the lower limbs, they also
The error that results in Spina bifida occurs very early in pregnancy, before most women
even know they have conveived. By four weeks of gestation, the problem has a large
extent already heppend. Spina bifida can be diagnosed in utero by the presence of an
elevated level of alpha fetoprotein in the amniotic fluid. Alpha fetoprotein levels mat also
be elevated in maternal serum. The exact cause of spina bifida is not presently known, but
like many common congenital malformations spina bifida is multifactorial or (polygenic)
inheritance. Although it appears to run certain families spina bifidadoes not follow any
particular law of inheritance. Individuals who have the genes for spina bifida are normal
and at the present time there is no way to detect they carrythe genes for spina bifida until
they have affected child. If parents have one childwith spina bifida, the risk of having a
second is about 1 in 40. If there are two affected children in one family the risk of having
a third is 5%. There is also a two- fold increase in the chance of having these
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