Intrauterine treatment of spina bifida: primate model.

A spina-bifida-like condition was induced in 8 Macaca mulatta fetuses by intra-uterine lumbar laminectomy (L3-L5) followed by displacement of the spinal cord from the central canal. This condition was repaired in utero in 5 animals. A key feature of the repaired in utero in 5 animals. A key feature of the repair method was the use of allogeneic bone paste made from fetal bone particles suspended in an agar-thickened modified Dulbecco's medium. The bone paste was used to correct the bone deficit produced by the laminectomy. All of the monkey babies were delivered by cesarean section at near term (160-164 days of gestation). Neurological test on the neonates and subsequent morphological studies indicated that the in utero treated animals developed normally. In contrast, 3 control animals, which had the induced spinal dysraphism but were left untreated, showed severe spina-bifida-like abnormalities, including paraplegia, incontinence and somatosensory loss.