Factors relating to intelligence in treated cases of spina bifida cystica.

Analysis of results on 83 survivors of spina bifida cystica showed the following: (1) in the seven children who had had central nervous system (CNS) infection, intelligence was impaired, six being severely retarded. (2) In the nine children who did not suffer CNS infection or require a shunt, intelligence was normal. The need for a shunt was related to radiological appearance (craniolacunae) and to the sensory level at birth. (3) In the 67 children who did not suffer CNS infection but did require a shunt, intelligence was related to sensory level found at birth and to thickness of the pallium measured within four weeks of birth. Their intelligence did not relate to the occipitofrontal circumference at birth, or to its increase before the insertion of the shunt. Intelligence did not relate to the function of the shunt at the time of assessment or to the number of times it had been revised.