Urological disorders are still the leading cause of inhospital death in patients with spina bifida

Abstract Objective To assess and analyze the contemporary causes of inhospital deaths of spina bifida patients. Methods It was a cross-sectional observational study of the longitudinal national cohort of all patients hospitalized in French public and private hospitals. We analyzed the data from the French hospital discharge database (Programme de Medicalisation des Systemes d'Information, PMSI) from 2009 to 2014. The number of inhospital deaths was extracted using the combination of the ICD-10 codes "Q05" or "Q760" and a discharge code=9. Results There were 138 inhospital deaths of spina bifida patients over the 6-year study period. The median age at death was 41 years (IQR: 25-52). The median age at death was significantly lower in patients with vs. without hydrocephalus (26.6 vs. 45.5 years; p Conclusion Urological disorders remain the leading cause of inhospital death in spina bifida patients in France. The present study highlights that efforts to improve the urological management of the spina bifida population are still greatly needed.