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The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on May 3, 2006
The European Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckl053
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.
Received November 24, 2005
Accepted March 1, 2006

Article

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

Annamari Nikkilä 1 *, Håkan Rydhström 2 *, and Bengt Källén 3

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

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Annamari Nikkilä, E-mail: annamari.nikkila{at}med.lu.se


  Abstract

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.
*Deceased
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