[Coordinated care unit for patients with neural tube anomalies and their families.]

Bifid Spine is a multisystem malformation incurable and transmissible with a lot of important sequelae, some of them with treatment and some other avoidable. They affect and limit not only health but social-work life too. The main objective must be prevention. The primary prevention, meaning not occurrence, could be done by recognizing the possible etiologic factors that affect the population. This is a responsibility of health policies based in scientific evidences and expert's opinions. Secondary prevention would be to make efforts to decrease the consequences and improve newborns with bifid spine lif's quality and life expectancy. Actually, persons born with bifid spine, have a longterm life expectancy with specific necessities during their lives. The first two years of life are very important. During their adolescence and adult life, risk increases if any social-health aspect is abandoned giving up follow and self-care from the pediatrics coordinated assistance team, as it follows its natural evolution. It will cause totally avoidable complications. A patient with bifid spine is basically a person, not a group of diseases. It is essential to have a holistic and total look for each person with bifid spine and not consider the patient like a collection of troubles treated with different non coordinated specialities. The individual intervention of each medical doctor could damage and it could be better if they work coordinated for a long time. This strategy would allow improved efficiency (cost/efficacy) and quality of assistance. Every effort done and the objectives reached in childhood can be improved with the multidisciplinary coordinated assistance, but it can be lost if it does not continue during all life. It may cause a serious and evitable damage in life quality with loss of spent health resources.