Myelomeningocele: the medical aspects.

Recent advances in treatment and care for children with myelomeningocele offer new hope for both survival and success. Achieving these goals requires careful attention to both technical areas and to the basics of health care and human interactions. The latter area is one for which the primary care physician should be ideally suited. Although specialty care by neurosurgeons, orthopedists, and urologists is necessary, none of these specialists offer the broad scope and understanding of the child and the family that the primary care physician should be able to provide. Managing a child with this disorder is challenging, can be satisfying, and appears to be cost effective. The goals, however, must be clearly visualized and accepted, and the value of health maintenance and care rather than cure must be recognized.