TYK379
An infant is born via Cesarean section to a 27 year-old G2P1 with a history of epilepsy. Myelomeningocele was noted on fetal ultrasound. Choose the one true statement about Myelomeningocele:
a) Hydrocephalus occurs in approximately 50% of children with myelomeningocele
b) Myelomeningocele is usually corrected between the first and second weeks of life
c) The mother’s medical history may have contributed to the presence of a myelomeningocele
d) Latex is avoided because of a high incidence of congenital latex allergy in this patient population
e) The severity of neurologic dysfunction increases with more caudad lesions
Answer
Answer c. Further questioning may reveal the mother was taking anti-epileptic drugs for her epilepsy; these are associated with an increased incidence of myelomeningocele. Hydrocephalus occurs in the vast majority (up to 80-90%) of myelomeningocele patients. Repair of these lesions usually occurs in the first
Notes
- This question originally printed in the Pediatric Anesthesiology Review Topics kindle book series, and appears courtesy of Naerthwyn Press, LLC.