The results of early treatment of 100 consecutive newborns with myelomeningocele

One hundred consecutive newborns were treated for myelomeningocele at Children's Memorial Hospital from 1975 through 1978. 91% of the myelomeningoceles were closed within 24 hours of birth. The operative mortality was 2%. The overall mortality was 6% with a follow-up from 2 months to 4 years. 74% of the children required a shunt for hydrocephalus. Shunt infections occurred in 11% of those children shunted under 1 month, in 15% of all those with primary repair of the myelomeningocele within 24 hours. It is concluded that early aggressive management continues to be a major factor in both quantity as well as quality of survival.