ABSTRACT
Each year approximately 400000 babies are born with neural tube defects (NTDs) throughout the world1. In Spain2, according to data from the Spanish Collaborative Study on Congenital Abnormalities (Estudio Colaborativo Español de Malformaciones Congénitas: ECEMC), the prevalence of babies born with NTDs is 8-10 per 10000. Taking into account that there are approximately 400000 births in Spain per year, the prevalence of NTDs would be 320-400 births with NTDs per year, of which more than half would be cases with spina bifida. In the USA it is estimated that these types of defect produce yearly medical and surgical costs of over 200 million dollars3.
