Prevalence and Epidemiological Characteristics of Neonates with Neural TubeDefects at Bugando Medical Center: An 8 Year Hospital Based Survey

Abstract

David L Sikambale, Anton Manyanga, Kesheni Lemi,Olaph Lema, Alphonce Manoni, Hans Klaudi, Misso Mpeji, Muro Restituta, Flora Chacha, Neema Chami, Vladimir Herrera, Gerald Mayaya, James Lubuulwa

Introduction: Neural tube defects (NTDs ) are a common health burden in the countries of the sub-Saharan region(1) and the an important concern for the public health system(2). Prevalence in Africa has been reported at 11.7 per 10,000(3) whereas the prevalence of NTDs in the lake zone region of Mwanza is yet to be known.

Methods: A cross-sectional hospital based retrospective descriptive study, involved all newborns with any type of neural tube defect admitted to the neonatal ward at Bugando Medical Center between 1st November 2013 to 28th February 2022.

Results: Out of the 17997 neonate admissions during the study period, the prevalence of NTDs was 44.6 :1000. Males were 438 (54.5%) more than females 366 (45.5%) with statistical significance of p=0.011. The mean age at admission 7.59 days (SD=7.12) CI 0.49(7.10-8.10). Spina Bifida in particular Myelomeningocele was the most common among the neural tube defects was found in 673 (83.7%) of the admitted neonates whereas 82 (10.2%) presented with hydranencephaly and 49(6.1%) with encephalocele and with a prevalence ratio of 37.4 : 4.5 :2.7 per 1000 cases respectively.

Conclusion:The prevalence of neural tube defects in our study was 44.6:1000. Myelomeningocele is the commonest encountered NTD. The overall prevalence of neural tube defects from the lake zone region is very high compared to other regions of the world. Future work is needed to seek etiological explanations for the high regional prevalence differences and to develop improved methods for primary prevention of this public health burden.

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