Spina bifida

Spina bifida is a complex disorder which arises at the neural tube during embryonic development. This is called a neural tube defect. Anencephaly is a less well-known example of a neural tube defect.

With spina bifida, the spine do not close properly around the spinal cord (open rug). It occurs in 4.5 out of 10,000 births. If the disability occurs once every family, the chance of a child with this disability is ten times larger. In Southeast Asia, the deviation less common (2.5 per 10,000 births) .

The term spina bifida was given by the Dutchman Nicolaes Tulp in 1637.