EEC Concerted Action Project – European Congenital Anomalies and Twins (Eurocat)

Abstract

The European Economic Community (EEC) is promoting a network of locally funded centers in the nine EEC countries, surveying a total of approximately 140,800 births per year for selected congenital malformations and multiple births. The objectives and aims of the study are explained and some of the methods to set guidelines detailed.

Genitourinary Tract Anomalies: Neonatal Medical Problems

“…The EUROCAT data which includes data from 16 European centers give a mean frequency of 9.2% for urinary tract anomalies (single or associated with other malformations) [9], These results agree with those in our study.…”

Congenital Anomalies in Twins in Aberdeen and Northeast Scotland

“…Zygosity was determined from the type of placentation together with investigation of a variety of genetic markers in blood and placental tissue [5]. Malformations were ascertained retrospectively by reviewing records of routine neonatal examinations, and classified according to the European Congenital Malformations and Twins Project (EUROCAT) revision of the International Classification of Disease [23,24]. Comparisons of prevalence rates at birth between MZ and DZ twin pairs and, again, between monochorionic pairs and dichorionic pairs within the MZ group were effected by the x 2 test for heterogeneity.…”

A review of statistical methods for continuous monitoring of malformation frequencies

“…The first methodology specifically designed to monitor a continuous process , the cumulative sum technique, or CUSUM, was proposed by Page in 1954 (65; see also Refs. 66,67,80), is applied to biological problems according to Ewan and Kemp (31), and was used in congenital anomalies surveillance in England and Wales (39) and, thereupon, in many other systems (10,41,76,77,81). CUSUM assumes a Poisson distribution of malformation frequencies, and is a form of sequential probability testing.…”