Perfil de crianças com mielomeningocele em hospital de referência - Rio de Janeiro

Introduction. Myelomeningocele (MMC) is one of the forms of dysraphism that results from a defect in the closure of the posterior portion/section of the neural tube, during the fourth week of gestation. MMC affects the nervous, musculoskeletal and urogenital systems. Objectives. To map the epidemiological profile of the newborn with MMC in the IFF/FIOCRUZ, sent to the Physical Therapy service. Material and Methods. A transversal, descriptive and institutional study, in which the medical records of patients with MMC from January 2007 to June 2008 have been analyzed. Results and Discussion. There was predominance of the male sex. In 14 children the presence of hydrocephalus was detected. Four children presented other malformations of the nervous system, such as corpus callosum dysgenesis. The majority of the patients showed orthopedic changes, the most frequent of which were congenital foot deformities. The greatest problems were related to the possibility of standing, walking and voluntarily controlling the bladder and bowel systems. Conclusion. The treatment of children with MMC requires early clinical and surgical intervention, as well as rehabilitation treatment.