Skip Navigation


The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on May 3, 2006
The European Journal of Public Health 2006 16(6):660-662; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckl053
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
16/6/660    most recent
ckl053v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nikkilä, A.
Right arrow Articles by Källén, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nikkilä, A.
Right arrow Articles by Källén, B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Health Services Research

The incidence of spina bifida in Sweden 1973–2003: the effect of prenatal diagnosis

Annamari Nikkilä1, Håkan Rydhström2,* and Bengt Källén3

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden
2 Helsingborg Central Hospital, Sweden
3 Tornblad Institute, Lund, Sweden

Correspondence: Annamari Nikkilä, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital, 22185 Lund, Sweden, tel: +46 46 172520, fax + 46 46 157868, e-mail: annamari.nikkila{at}med.lu.se

Background: Many studies have been conducted on the accuracy of prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of foetal CNS-malformations. These studies were mostly hospital-based or, sometimes, multicentre studies. We present here a population-based study of the prenatal diagnosis of spina bifida in Sweden over a period of 31 years. Methods: We compared the number of newborns with spina bifida and the elective terminations because of the prenatal diagnosis of spina bifida for different periods. Results: The rate of spina bifida among newborns diminished gradually from 0.55 per 1000 to 0.29 per 1000 during the study period. In M county the rate of spina bifida at birth decreased very rapidly and from 1993 onwards was about half of that in the rest of the country. Conclusion: There has been a decline in the rate of spina bifida at birth. This decline can be seen earlier in the southern part of the country, M county. The decline is probably, to a great extent, a consequence of prenatal ultrasound screening.

Keywords: prenatal diagnosis, spina bifida, ultrasound screening


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.