Doctors at Abu Dhabi’s flagship SEHA facility, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), are urging more public awareness of spina bifida, marking a special awareness day for the congenital defect on 22 October.

Spina bifida, which means cleft or split spine, is a birth defect affecting the spinal column, characterised by the incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord or the protecting covering around both. The condition is the most common permanently disabling birth defect in the United States, with approximately 1,500 to 2,000 babies born with spina bifida each year.

In Abu Dhabi, according to Dr. Zaid Al-Aubadi, the chairman of the spina bifida multidisciplinary team at SKMC, as many as 15 are born each year, with up to 300 individuals with spina bifida currently living in the country.

“Although spina bifida is a permanent condition and the cause is not fully known, the outlook for patients has improved significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. We have more advanced surgical techniques which can remarkably improve quality of life for affected patients, but we also have improved methods of early diagnosis in order to reduce the severity of complications,” said Dr. Al Aubadi, a Royal Danish Board-certified Paediatric Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgeon at SKMC.

Complications of spina bifida vary from mobility issues to bladder, bowel and gastrointestinal disorders through to learning disabilities.

“Some research suggests that many cases of spina bifida can be prevented by simply taking an adequate amount of folic acid before and during early pregnancy. Ultimately the key to increased quality of life and to a better outlook is early detection – a blood test, ultrasound or amniocentesis during pregnancy,” added Dr. Al Aubadi.

According to the American spina bifida association, about 90% of babies born with spina bifida now live to be adults, with about 80% of normal intelligence, and as many as 75% living active, healthy lives.

SKMC’s Spina Bifida Awareness Day, themed “Know More to Protect Your Child” will be held on October 22 at the Sofitel Hotel in Abu Dhabi, and covers topics such as prevention and early detection, the roles of different medical options for treatment.

“We have taken the level of care of our patients to a higher level by implanting a multidisciplinary approach. As those patients need the care from different specialities, they previously had to have appointments on different days with different doctors. Having the spina bifida multidisciplinary clinic has solved this suffering. Now, the patient is been seen by the different speciality doctors in the same day and in the same clinic,” Dr Al Aubadi concluded.

SKMC, which is managed by Cleveland Clinic, is a SEHA Health System facility. 

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