Congenital Defects in Infants Following Infectious Diseases During Pregnancy

Place of Maternal Rubella in the Aetiology of Congenital Heart Disease

“…From the beginning (Gregg, 1941 ;Swan et al, 1943) persistent ductus arteriosus was prominent among them and cyanotic heart disease was much less common. Gibson and Lewis (1952) could find-little information about the types of heart malformation, but had 17 examples among their patients-I with persistent O' ductus alone, 3 with this and some other malformation, and only 3 with any other cardiac malformation alone.…”

Four chapters in the history of Australian cardiology

“…At that hospital Bruce Shallard had conducted, for a number of years, a clinic devoted to the study of congenital heart disease, probably the first dealing exclusively with a sub-branch of cardiology. These activities coincided with the discovery by Gregg (1941) and Swan et al (1943) of the association of maternal rubella with congenital cardiac defects-the first convincing demonstration of the pathogenic effects of intrauterine viral infections. Ten of the first fourteen patients with patent ductus operated on by Edye and Susman made an excellent recovery, a very creditable result considering that the operations were carried out before the days of organized cardiac surgical teams, modern anaesthesia and effective antibiotics.…”

Aetiology of Congenital Talipes

“…Blattner and Williamson (1951) Although it is dangerous to draw analogies between the production of experimental lesions in animals and the effects of disease in man, it seems reasonable to compare these experiments with congenital lesions in man known to be associated with interference in early development as a result of maternal infection and apparently similar lesions occurring in association with maternal disease such as diabetes mellitus. Gregg (1941) and Swan et al (1943) drew attention to the association between congenital cataract and maternal rubella, and the occurrence of congenital defects of many types in association with maternal virus infections such as mumps has been reported by other observers (Fox et al, 1948).…”