Synonyms
Spina bifida
Short Description or Definition
Myelomeningocele (MMC) is a neural tube defect causing an open lesion in the spinal cord and vertebrae from which the meninges and spinal nerves protrude (Law and Davis 2007). It can cause paraplegia, sensory deficits in the lower extremities, and neurogenic bowel and bladder. Most persons with MMC have malformations of the cerebral cortex.
Categorization
MMC is one of several types of neural tube defects, including anencephaly, spina bifida occulta, closed neural tube defects, and meningocele (Mitchell 2005).
Epidemiology
Prevalence rates for myelomeningocele without anencephaly in the USA of 3.72 per 10,000 live births were recently reported (Parker et al. 2010), with higher rates for Hispanic and White mothers and lower rates for Black mothers (Agopian et al. 2011). Multiple factors increase risk for MMC, including genetics, maternal folic acid intake, maternal prepregnancy diabetes, maternal obesity, exposure to anticonvulsants...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Readings
Agopian, A. J., Canfield, M. A., Olney, R. S., Lupo, P. J., Ramadhani, T., Mitchell, L. E., & National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2011). Spina bifida subtypes and sub-phenotypes by maternal race/ethnicity in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A, 158A, 109–115. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.a.34383.
Ammerman, R. T., Kane, V. R., Slomka, G. T., Reigel, D. H., Franzen, M. D., & Gadow, K. D. (1998). Psychiatric symptomatology and family functioning in children and adolescents with spina bifida. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 4, 449–465. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026211028595.
Barf, H. A., Verhoef, M., Jennekens-Schinkel, A., Post, M. W., Gooskens, R. H., & Prevo, A. J. (2003). Cognitive status of young adults with spina bifida. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 45, 813–820. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0012162203001518.
Clancy, C. A., McGrath, P. J., Oddson, B. E., Clancy, C. A., McGrath, P. J., & Oddson, B. E. (2005). Pain in children and adolescents with spina bifida. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 47, 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2005.tb01036.x.
Cope, H., McMahon, K., Heise, E., Eubanks, S., Garrett, M., Gregory, S., & Ashley-Koch, A. (2013). Outcome and life satisfaction of adults with myelomeningocele. Disability and Health Journal, 6, 236–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2012.12.003.
Dennis, M., & Barnes, M. A. (2010). The cognitive phenotype of spina bifida myelomeningocele. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 16, 31–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/ddrr.89.
Dennis, M., Landry, S. H., Barnes, M., & Fletcher, J. M. (2006). A model of neurocognitive function in spina bifida over the life span. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 12, 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617706060371.
Dicianno, B. E., Kinback, N., Bellin, M. H., Chaikind, L., Buhari, A., Holmbeck, G. N., & Collins, D. M. (2015). Depressive symptoms in adults with spina bifida. Rehabilitation Psychology, 60, 246–253.
Edwards, M., Borzyskowski, M., Cox, A., & Badcock, J. (2004). Neuropathic bladder and intermittent catheterization: Social and psychological impact on children and adolescents. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 46, 168–177. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0012162204000301.
Giacoletti Argento, A., Warschausky, S. A., Shank, L., & Hornyak, J. E. (2011). Spina bifida myelomeningocele. In S. Goldstein & C. R. Reynolds (Eds.), Handbook of neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders in children (pp. 554–569). New York: The Guilford Press.
Greenley, R. N., Coakley, R. M., Holmbeck, G. N., Jandasek, B., & Wills, K. (2006). Condition-related knowledge among children with spina bifida: Longitudinal changes and predictors. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 31, 828–839. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(84)90041-2.
Holmbeck, G. N., Belvedere, M. C., Christensen, M., Czerwinski, A. M., Hommeyer, J. S., Johnson, S. Z., & Kung, E. (1998). Assessment of adherence with multiple informants in pre-adolescents with spina bifida: Initial development of a multidimensional, multitask parent-report questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 70, 427–440. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsm064.
Holmbeck, G. N., Greenley, R. N., Coakley, R. M., Greco, J., & Hagstrom, J. (2006). Family functioning in children and adolescents with spina bifida: An evidence-based review of research and interventions. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 27, 249–277. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004703-200606000-00012.
Holmbeck, G. N., DeLucia, C., Essner, B., Kelly, L., Zebracki, K., Friedman, D., & Jandasek, B. (2010). Trajectories of psychosocial adjustment in adolescents with spina bifida: A 6-year, four-wave longitudinal follow-up. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78, 511–525. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019599.
Juranek, J., & Salman, M. S. (2010). Anomalous development of brain structure and function in spina bifida myelomeningocele. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 16, 23–30. https://doi.org/10.1002/ddrr.88.
Law, C. R., & Davis, D. (2007). Rehabilitation concepts in myelomeningocele and other spinal dysraphisms. In R. L. Braddom (Ed.), Physical medicine & rehabilitation (3rd ed., pp. 1269–1284). Philadelphia: Elsevier.
Lennon, J. M., Murray, C. B., Bechtel, C. F., & Holmbeck, G. N. (2015). Resilience and disruption in observed family interactions in youth with and without spina bifida: An eight-year, five-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 40, 943–955. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsv033.
Mitchell, L. E. (2005). Epidemiology of neural tube defects. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C, Seminars in Medical Genetics, 135, 88–94. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.c.30057.
Moldenhauer, J. (2014). In utero repair of spina bifida. American Journal of Perinatology, 31, 595–604. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0034-1372429.
Parker, S. E., Mai, C. T., Canfield, M. A., Rickard, R., Wang, Y., Meyer, R. E., & National Birth Defects Prevention Network. (2010). Updated national birth prevalence estimates for selected birth defects in the United States, 2004–2006. Birth Defects research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology, 88, 1008–1016.
Ramsundhar, N., & Donald, K. (2014). An approach to the developmental and cognitive profile of the child with spina bifida. South African Medical Journal, 104, 221.
Rose, B. M., & Holmbeck, G. N. (2007). Attention and executive functions in adolescents with spina bifida. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32, 983–994. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsm042.
Simeonsson, R. J., McMillen, J. S., & Huntington, G. S. (2002). Secondary conditions in children with disabilities: Spina bifida as a case example. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 8, 198–205. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrdd.10038.
Stubberud, J., Langenbahn, D., Levine, B., Stanghelle, J., & Schanke, A. (2013). Goal management training of executive functions in patients with spina bifida: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 19, 672–685. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617713000209.
Vermaes, I. P., Gerris, J. R., & Janssens, J. M. (2007). Parents’ social adjustment in families of children with spina bifida: A theory-driven review. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32, 1214–1226. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsm054.
Wagner, R., Linroth, R., Gangl, C., Mitchell, N., Hall, M., Cady, R., et al. (2015). Perception of secondary conditions in adults with spina bifida and impact on daily life. Disability and Health Journal, 4, 492–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2015.03.012.
Warschausky, S. (2006). Physical impairments and disability. In J. E. Farmer, J. Donders, & S. Warschausky (Eds.), Treating neurodevelopmental disabilities: Clinical research and practice (pp. 81–97). New York: The Guilford Press.
Williams, V. J., Juranek, J., Stuebing, K., Cirino, P. T., Dennis, M., & Fletcher, J. M. (2013). Examination of frontal and parietal tectocortical attention pathways in spina bifida meningomyelocele using probabilistic diffusion tractography. Brain Connectivity, 3, 512–522. https://doi.org/10.1089/brain.2013.0171.
Zabel, T. A., Jacobson, L., & Mahone, E. M. (2013). Spina bifida/hydrocephalus. In E. S. Baron & C. Rey-Casserly (Eds.), Pediatric neuropsychology: Medical advances and lifespan outcomes (pp. 279–301). New York: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Drewel, E.H., Deidrick, K.K.M. (2018). Myelomeningocele. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1571
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1571
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57110-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57111-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences