{
  "release_id": "fc5a600ec7387e71",
  "id": "maternal:neural-tube-defects",
  "owner": "maternal",
  "kind": "condition",
  "slug": "neural-tube-defects",
  "name": "Neural tube defects (fetus)",
  "aliases": [],
  "atlases": [
    "maternal"
  ],
  "summary_plain": "Neural tube defects are birth defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord. They start in the first month of pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant. The two most common are spina bifida and anencephaly. Getting enough folic acid before and during pregnancy prevents most of them. There is no cure; the damage that is present at birth is usually permanent, although treatments can sometimes prevent further damage and help with complications. They are usually found before the baby is born, through lab or imaging tests.",
  "summary_technical": "This is a condition of the fetus, so the atlas files it under the fetal development care area. The MedlinePlus health topic page (last updated September 16, 2025) supplies the plain description. A 2023 evidence update for a US screening statement (JAMA) opens by calling neural tube defects among the most common birth defects in the United States. Evidence that folic acid prevents them is on the folic acid supplementation page; the MRC Vitamin Study result there applies to women who had a previous affected pregnancy.",
  "editorial_state": "draft",
  "last_substantive_edit": "2026-10-14",
  "last_evidence_check": "2026-10-14",
  "next_review_due": null,
  "identifiers": [],
  "navigation": {
    "maternal": {
      "life-stage": [
        "pregnancy",
        "newborn"
      ],
      "care-area": [
        "fetal-development"
      ]
    }
  },
  "payload": {
    "recognition": "Neural tube defects are usually diagnosed before the infant is born, through lab or imaging tests.",
    "assessment": null,
    "burden_claims": []
  },
  "content_digest": "524ece2596225d88121d78b974e87435f775b5b4664fd70f5fef5a7f93aa9729",
  "review": {
    "content_digest": "524ece2596225d88121d78b974e87435f775b5b4664fd70f5fef5a7f93aa9729",
    "current": [],
    "conflicting": [],
    "stale": [],
    "inactive": []
  },
  "claims": [],
  "decisions": [],
  "milestones": [],
  "relationships": {
    "outgoing": [
      {
        "predicate": "related_to",
        "label": "The fetal development page",
        "clinical_claim_not_fact": false,
        "family": "navigation",
        "other_entity_id": "maternal:fetal-development",
        "other_entity_in_atlas": true,
        "claim_id": null,
        "evidence": null,
        "primary": false,
        "role": null,
        "valid_from": null,
        "valid_to": null
      },
      {
        "predicate": "part_of",
        "label": "Filed under this front",
        "clinical_claim_not_fact": false,
        "family": "navigation",
        "other_entity_id": "maternal:front-prevention-and-nutrition",
        "other_entity_in_atlas": true,
        "claim_id": null,
        "evidence": null,
        "primary": true,
        "role": null,
        "valid_from": null,
        "valid_to": null
      }
    ],
    "incoming": [
      {
        "predicate": "evaluated_for",
        "label": "Evaluated for this",
        "clinical_claim_not_fact": true,
        "family": "clinical",
        "other_entity_id": "maternal:folic-acid-supplementation",
        "other_entity_in_atlas": true,
        "claim_id": "maternal:claim-mrc-ntd-recurrence",
        "evidence": null,
        "primary": false,
        "role": null,
        "valid_from": null,
        "valid_to": null
      },
      {
        "predicate": "investigates",
        "label": "Investigated in",
        "clinical_claim_not_fact": false,
        "family": "sourced",
        "other_entity_id": "maternal:mrc-vitamin-study",
        "other_entity_in_atlas": true,
        "claim_id": null,
        "evidence": {
          "snapshot_id": "maternal:pubmed-1677062-2026-10-14",
          "locator": "Abstract, sentence 1, fragment 3 of 3"
        },
        "primary": false,
        "role": null,
        "valid_from": null,
        "valid_to": null
      }
    ]
  },
  "page_path": "conditions/neural-tube-defects/",
  "context_path": "api/v1/context/maternal--neural-tube-defects.md"
}