BMJ  2005;330:574-575 (12 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7491.574

Paper

Preventing neural tube defects in Europe: population based study

¹ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, ² North Thames (West) Congenital Malformations Register, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3UJ, ³ EUROCAT Central Registry, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland BT37 OQB

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Introduction

Each year, more than 4500 pregnancies in the European Union are affected by neural tube defects. Unambiguous evidence of the effectiveness of periconceptional folic acid in preventing neural tube defects has been available since 1991,¹ and improving folate status sufficiently could result in the prevention of more than two thirds of all neural tube defects. We report on trends in the prevalence of neural tube defects up to 2001, in the context of a survey in 16 European countries of periconceptional folic acid policies and their implementation.^{2 3}

Participants, methods, and results

Eurocat is a network of population based congenital anomaly registries in Europe (www.eurocat.ulster.ac.uk). A total of 9 273 212 births were surveyed by 31 registries in 16 countries 1980-2001,³ including 8913 babies or fetuses with neural tube defects (anencephaly, spina bifida, or encephalocele): 3298 live births, 844 stillbirths, and 4771 terminations of pregnancy after prenatal diagnosis. In the United Kingdom and . . . [Full text of this article]

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