NEW ORLEANS, LA USA (UroToday.com) - Dr. Yahir Santiago-Lastra presented an interesting population-based study of the patterns of medical care and complications in the adult spina bifida population in conjunction with the Urologic Diseases in America Project. The study aimed to examine the adequacy of surveillance and prevalence of complications in this population by using administrative date from a 5% Medicare sample from 2007-2010. Minimum surveillance included a serum creatinine, a visit to a urologist and any form of urinary tract imaging within a 2-year period.
Dr. Santiago-Lastra described the adult spina bifida population in the sample as 825 patients, who were predominantly Caucasians, with a slight preponderance of females (61.3%) and a mean age of 51.2 years. She noted that the use of Medicare data may include an over-representation of patients with disability who would be eligible for Medicare under age 65.
The results showed that 61.2% of the patients underwent some form of screening, and that only 33% of patients underwent all 3 studies. Complication rates, not surprisingly, included 27.6% of patients experiencing a minor complication, with cystitis being the most common (16.4%). Moderate and severe complications, those requiring hospitalization or resulting in a threat to life occurred in a substantial portion of patients as well, with moderate complications occurring in 17% and severe complications in 6.6% of patients.
This research importantly highlights the need for attention by urologists toward the growing number of patients with congenital disorders transitioning to adulthood and the opportunities for improving surveillance and reducing complications in this high-risk population.
Presented by Yahir Santiago-Lastra, MD at the American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting - May 15 - 19, 2015 - New Orleans, LA USA
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA
Reported by Lindsey Cox (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA), medical writer for UroToday.com