How to detect open neural tube defects?

Open neural tube defects are a disease that most children suffer from, mainly in infants and young children. There is basically no way to completely cure it after it occurs. It can only relieve the symptoms of the child. However, this disease is very likely to accompany the child for life, which is actually very painful for the child. Therefore, it is best to do a good check-up during pregnancy, so that you can find out whether there are any abnormalities in the fetus in your belly in time, so that you can get timely treatment. If conditions permit, you should do a pre-pregnancy check-up as much as possible. This is one of the best ways to rule out the possibility that the baby may have an open neural tube defect, which can be completely avoided.

Neurological injury: Neurological injury includes brain trauma, sequelae of cerebral arteriosclerosis (cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral thrombosis), sequelae of encephalitis and meningitis, demyelinating diseases and other sequelae of cerebrovascular diseases.

Nerve root injury: A series of conditions caused by damage to nerves in related parts of the body due to compression, traction, friction, surgery, etc.

The main methods of prenatal diagnosis are as follows:

(1) Fetoscopic diagnosis has the advantage of direct observation in the uterus with the help of an endoscope. It can not only identify whether the fetus is deformed, but also obtain fetal living tissue and fetal blood for examination.

(2) Ultrasonic diagnosis, especially the use of B-type ultrasound scanners, can provide more accurate answers to questions such as whether the fetus is alive or not, gestational age, fetal position, amniotic fluid volume, and whether the fetus is deformed.

(3) Amniotic fluid diagnosis: During the 16th to 21st week of pregnancy, amniotic fluid can be obtained through abdominal wall amniocentesis and its various components can be analyzed and examined.

(4) Blood and urine tests of pregnant women. During normal pregnancy, a small amount of fetal blood cells, metabolic products and proteins can enter the maternal blood circulation through the placenta. Therefore, testing maternal blood and urine can diagnose certain genetic diseases in the fetus. Check for Down syndrome risk (to rule out trisomy 21) during 14 to 19 weeks of pregnancy, and perform four-dimensional color ultrasound at 20 to 28 weeks of pregnancy to rule out fetal malformations.