Surveillance of congenital malformations and their possible risk factors in a teaching hospital in Punjab

Abstract

Background: Congenital malformations (CMF) are third most common cause of perinatal mortality in India making their prediction and prevention highly eminent. The present study was designed to analyze the frequency, distribution and patterns of CMF among babies born in a teaching hospital in Punjab, along-with factors contributing towards their occurrence. Methods: This was a prospective study in which the incidence of CMF was determined in 1554 consecutive deliveries conducted at Gian Sagar Medical College, Banur, from July 2010-June 2011. Diagnosis of CMF was based on prenatal ultrasound or clinical evaluation of the newborn by the neonatologist. Various risk factors associated with occurrence of CMF were studied. Results: The incidence of CMF was 4.44% (n=69). Out of the babies born with CMF, 49 (71.01%) were still born, and major defects were present in 68.11%. CNS and urogenital system were most commonly involved, while 8.6% babies had multiple anomalies. High age and parity, parental consanguinity, bad obstetrical history, inadvertent drug ingestion enhanced risk; with no effect of radiation exposure and antenatal infections. Conclusions: Incidence of CMF in our population was 4.44%: frequently associated with increasing age, parity, consanguineous marriage, maternal disease and drug ingestion.

Profile of gross congenital malformations among live newborns and its associated risk factors from a tertiary care rural teaching institute

“…1,8,9,12,15 Babies with history of consanguinity had higher incidence of malformations as compared to those with no such history but the difference was not statistically significant which is similar to the findings of Patel et al, Sarkar et al, Marwah et al and Taksande et al while Parmar et al found no association of consanguinity with congenital malformations. 1,9,11,15,18 Our study had limitations of being an exclusive hospital based study accounting for mostly referred patients. Larger population based studies are required to determine the actual prevalence of these disorders in the population.…”

“…Most common system involved in our study was central nervous system (48%) followed by musculoskeletal (28%) and gastrointestinal (13%) which is similar to the observations of other studies. 1,8,10,12,15,16 However, Sarkar et al reported that musculoskeletal anomalies were the commonest. 9 Cardiac anomalies were reported to be most common by some studies.…”

“…1,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The reported incidence in various studies is around 2% except the study conducted by Marwah et al who have reported a higher incidence of malformations (4.44%) in Punjab. 15 This could be due to increasing number of referrals coming to the hospital, inclusion of minor anomalies, racial, geographic and ethnic factors. Most common system involved in our study was central nervous system (48%) followed by musculoskeletal (28%) and gastrointestinal (13%) which is similar to the observations of other studies.…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12]15 Among multipara females, incidence of congenital malformations was found to be high (2.27%) as compared to primipara females (1.63%) but the difference was statistically insignificant. The findings are similar to the findings of other studies.…”

Prevalence and Association of Congenital Anomalies According to the Maternal Body Mass Index: Cross-Sectional Study

“…Indian studies showed similar results. [21][22][23] The etiology of CNS malformations is multifactorial, involving complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors, constituting one of the most common congenital defects. 22,24,25 Sunitha et al 22 analyzed 360 pregnant women with fetuses presenting structural abnormalities, and also observed a higher frequency of CNS anomalies (37%), followed by genitourinary system abnormalities (20%) and multiple CAs (11%).…”