Congenital Spine Malformation in the Arab World

The Arab world is the area starting from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arab sea in the east and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the south. The Arab world population of the 23 countries peaked at around 444.52 million inhabitants in 2021 (Arab world: total population 2011–2021. Statista, n.d.). Arab world countries exhibit huge social and health inequalities between and within individual countries. However, consanguinity marriage is common in almost all Arab communities. Consanguine marriages account for about 40–50% of all marriages in Arab countries and the percentage reaches around 60% in some countries such as Sudan, Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia (Al-Ghanim, J Psychol Clin Psychiatry 11:166–168, 2020). These consanguinity marriages carry a higher risk of congenital anomalies of 1.7–2.8% compared to non-consanguinity, especially in the first cousins’ offspring which counts for 25% of the consanguine marriages (Consanguinity—an overview, n.d.). Among these highly burdening anomalies, spinal column defects such as neural tube defects are considered one of the most common and debilitating anomalies. This chapter aims to review these defects, their epidemiology, etiology, and prevention in the Arab world.