Neural tube defect pregnancy characteristics

Nowadays, the economy has developed rapidly, but pollution has also come along. Air pollution, water pollution, light pollution, chemical residues in fruits and vegetables, etc., this series of dangers requires every pregnant woman to be cautious. Nowadays, more and more hospitals are conducting anti-malformation screening for fetuses in order to detect them early. Fetal malformations include not only physical but also neurological ones. What are the characteristics of a neural tube defect pregnancy?

Neural tube defect, also known as neural tube defect, is a serious malformation disease. The neural tube is the central nervous system of the fetus. The nervous system begins to develop between the 15th and 17th days of embryogenesis. Around the 22nd day of embryogenesis, the two sides of the neural folds begin to move closer to each other to form a tube called the neural tube. Its front end is called the anterior pore of the neural tube, and the tail end is called the posterior pore of the neural tube. The anterior and posterior pores are successively closed on the 24th, 25th and 26th days of embryogenesis. The main manifestations of fetal neural tube defects are anencephaly, encephalocele, meningomyelocele, spina bifida/spina bifida occulta, cleft lip and cleft palate, etc. According to birth defect monitoring data from 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions from 1986 to 1987, the incidence of neural tube defects in my country is about 2.74‰, and it is higher in the north than in the south, higher in rural areas than in cities, and higher in babies born in autumn and winter than in spring and summer.

Clinical manifestations: The central neural tube is the part of the embryo that develops into the brain, spinal cord, back of the skull, and spine. If the central neural tube does not develop normally, defects in the above areas may occur when the baby is born.

Anencephaly and spina bifida are both malformations that occur during fetal development. The so-called "neural tube defects" refer to developmental malformations including anencephaly, encephalocele, meningomyelocele, spina bifida/spina bifida occulta, cleft lip and cleft palate.

Fetuses with neural tube defects cannot swallow amniotic fluid before birth, resulting in polyhydramnios during pregnancy.

Anencephaly refers to the absence of a complete head. In anencephalic babies, the head is not fully developed, and the skin, skull, and even the brain are not fully developed. This type of fetus usually dies in the womb before birth, resulting in a "dead fetus" or "stillbirth". Even if it is born, it will die within a short period of time, and almost no one survives.

Spina bifida refers to the failure of the spine to develop properly, causing the spinal cord, which should be protected by the spine, to protrude or be exposed to the surface of the body. Spina bifida can be completely open and can be identified with the naked eye as soon as the baby is born; it can also be latent and develop different symptoms as the child grows older, at which time it needs to be diagnosed through X-ray. The most common defect is spina bifida, which can affect one or more vertebrae. Symptoms include weakness or paralysis of the legs, leg deformities, incontinence, loss of sensation of pain below the level of the lesion, sometimes hydrocephalus, and in some cases, learning disabilities.