What disease is spina bifida?

Spina bifida is a deformity caused by congenital spinal canal insufficiency, which may or may not be accompanied by prominent spinal membrane and nerve components. It is caused by incomplete spinal canal closure during embryonic development. It can be a slight deformity, such as spinous process loss or vertebral plate insufficiency, or it can be a serious deformity. The cause of spina bifida deformity is still unknown. Some scholars believe that it is related to the chemical or physical damage to the embryo in the early pregnancy. Health care for pregnant women (pregnant women take enough folic acid) is very important to prevent fetal malformation. Spina bifida can occur in the neck, chest, waist and sacrum, but the lumbosacral region is the most common. Anterior spina bifida is rare, and posterior spina bifida is more common. Spina bifida can be divided into recessive spina bifida and dominant spina bifida, of which the former is far more than the latter. Most patients with spina bifida have no clinical symptoms, only occasionally found during physical examination.

Different patients with spina bifida have different manifestations, and many healthy people also have spina bifida with normal appearance, but without any detectable symptoms; Some patients can be normal at birth, but with the increase of age, symptoms gradually appear; Some spina bifida can also involve bones, accompanied by meningocele or myelocele.

characteristic symptoms

Local skin abnormality

The fifth lumbar vertebra and 1 sacrum are most commonly involved. Most of the affected skin is normal, but a few abnormalities such as pigmentation, telangiectasia, skin depression and local hirsutism appear. In severe cases, lumbosacral skin lumps or lumps can be seen, or the skin is scar-like, which may be accompanied by secretions or infections.

Sensory motor dysfunction of lower limbs

For example, the sensory disturbance of lower limbs and perineum depth is characterized by frequent pain and numbness of lower limbs, malnutrition ulcers on soles and buttocks, and even people who are severely burned or cut still don't know the pain; Motor dysfunction of lower limbs, especially ankle weakness, leads to weakness of both lower limbs, weakening or strengthening of muscle tension, disappearance of tendon reflex and muscle atrophy and deformation.