Spina bifida cystica. Incidence of spina bifida occulta in parents and in controls.

Abstract

Radiological investigation of the lumbo-sacral spine was undertaken to determine the incidence of spina bifida occulta in parents of children affected with spina bifida cystica. The incidence of spina bifida occulta was 14.3% among 188 mothers and 26.8% among 179 fathers: an over-all incidence of 20.4% among 367 parents. The incidence of spina bifida occulta in a control group of 200 adults living in the same district was 5%. Although this difference is highly significant, no help can be derived for the genetic advice of individual couples, because spina bifida occulta was not commoner among parents with more than one affected child, and because in the majority of families neither parent had spina bifida occulta.