Introduction. Birth defects are global problem with impact particularly severe in middle - to low -income countries. In the Philippines, there is a limited data on birth defects despite the fact that congenital anomalies have been in the top 10 causes of infant mortality. The objectives of the study were: 1.) to determine the occurrence of birth defects among patients admitted to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH); 2.) To present the distribution of patients by geographic location and age group distribution; 3.) To categorize birth defects by organ systems; and 4.) To categorize birth defects as either isolated, part of a recognizable syndrome, chromosomal syndrome of multi-malformed case. Methods. Patients admitted to PGH from 2001-2010 and to have major structural defects were included in this study. Case ascertainment was done through a review of medical records of all admitted patients age 0 to more than 65 years old. Patients with birth defects was assigned codes of International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 classification. Results. Of the 438,944 admissions to the PGH from 2001 to 2010, there were 8,686 (2.0%) patients with a diagnosis of at least one (1) birth defect. The most common birth defects are as follows: digestive system (3,605/8,686 or 41.5%), cardiovascular system (,839/8,686 or 32.7%), nervous system (1,070/8,686 or .3%) and genital organ anomalies (755/8,686 or 8.7%). The common digestive system anomalies were cleft lip and /or palate (1,548/8,686 or 17.8%), imperforate anus (698/8,686 or 8%) and hirschsprung disease (582/8,686 or 6.7%). Most of the cardiovascular system anomalies were congenital malformations of the cardiac septa (1,160/8,686 or 13.4%) and the great arteries (769/8,686 or 8.9%), while almost of the nervous system anomalies were due to congenital hydrocephalus (347/8,686 or 4%), encephalocoele (303/8,686 or 3.5%) and spina bifida (193/8,686 or 2.%) The most common genital organ anomalies were hypospadias (340/8,686 or 3.9%) and undescended testicle (233/8,686 or 2.7%) Majority (4,042/8,686 or 46.5%) of birth defect cases came from the National Capital Region (NCR) while 32.5% (or 2,87/8.686) of the cases came from region IV-A or Cavite, Laguna, Batangas , Rizal and Quezon (CALABARZON) Region. Conclusion. The results of this study show that the most common birth defects are digestive, cardiovascular, nervous system, and genital organ anomalies. This trend is similar to those reported internationally. The findings of the study can be the basis of policies toward the development and implementation of practical strategies for primary and secondary prevention of birth defects among Filipinos.
Human ; Male ; Female ; CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES ; CONGENITAL, HEREDITARY, AND NEONATAL DISEASES AND ABNORMALITIES ; ABNORMALITIES ; EPIDEMIOLOGY

OBJECTIVETo describe the regional patterns of emerging level on birth defects with simulated map by original studied and reference data.

METHODSBased on geographical information system, Kriging interpolation method was used and some related environmental factors were drawn from geographic information system software.

RESULTSThe Kriging method had drawn continual and smooth map on birth defect emerging level and shown some clues with environmental factors.

CONCLUSIONKriging method and advanced spatial statistical and analytical methods were helpful in public health studies while simulated map suggested the feasibility of sampled data on national disease surveillance and giving some useful clues to etiological analysis.

China ; epidemiology ; Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Forecasting ; Geographic Information Systems ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo describe the temporal trends and spatial patterns of birth defects occurring in Wuxi, a developed region of China.

METHODSWavelet analysis was used to decompose the temporal trends of birth defect prevalence based on the birth defect rates over the past 16 years. Birth defect cases with detailed personal and family information were geo-coded and the relative risk in each village was calculated. General G statistic was used to test the spatial property with different scales.

RESULTSWavelet analysis showed an increasing temporal trend of birth defects in this region. Clustering analysis revealed that changes continued in the spatial patterns with different scales.

CONCLUSIONWuxi is confronted with severe challenges to reduce birth defect prevalence. The risk factors are stable and show no change with spatial scale but an increasing temporal trend. Interventions should be focused on villages with a higher prevalence of birth defects.

China ; epidemiology ; Cluster Analysis ; Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Time Factors

Congenital anomalies have been in the top ten causes of infant mortality in the Philippines for the past 50 years. Since there is no synthetic surveillance for the congenital anomalies in our country, there are no specific programs directed toward better understanding of this group of patients. The birth defects surveillance project was convinced in 008 to develop a system of reporting of newborns with birth defects at the hospital and community setting. The lead agencies for this project are the University of the Philippines Manila-National Institutes of Health and the department of Health (DOH). This paper describes the establishment of the Philippine Birth Defects Surveillance.
Human ; Male ; Female ; CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES ; CONGENITAL, HEREDITARY, AND NEONATAL DISEASES AND ABNORMALITIES ; EPIDEMIOLOGY

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the abilities of population-based birth defects surveillance system (PBBDSS) and hospital-based birth defects surveillance system(HBBDSS).

METHODSWe used capture-mark-recapture method(CMR) to analyze the data of the two kinds of birth defects surveillance systems from 1 Oct. 2006 to 31 Dec. 2006 in a county of Hunan province. Data from PBBDSS were defined as the first source and data from HBBDSS were defined as the second source.

RESULTS49 and 28 birth defect cases were found from PBBDSS and from HBBDSS respectively. Among these cases, 20 were marked. With the method of CMR, the estimated birth defects cases were 68 (95% CI: 56-70). The coincident rates of PBBDSS and HBBDSS were 72.1% and 41.2%, while the total coincident rates was 83.8% and the coincident rates from different sources was 57.1%. The unreported rates of PBBDSS and HBBDSS were 27.9% and 58.8%.

CONCLUSIONNot only the HBBDSS but also the PBBDSS appeared to have had high unreported rates, suggesting that we could use CMR to adjust the rate of birth defects from the birth defects surveillance data.

Congenital Abnormalities ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Population Surveillance ; methods

OBJECTIVETo estimate the congenital malformations in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer and naturally conceived children by means of meta-analysis, so as to provide the evidence for improving reproductive technology research.

METHODSWe searched databases ( ISI Web of Knowledge, Medline, CNKI from 1999 to 2007 using "in vitro fertilization" or "in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer", in combination with "congenital malformations", also performed a manual search of citations from relevant original studies. Then all the studies applied a meta-analysing with software of Stata 10.

RESULTSEight publications were identified and found no heterogeneity (Q = 3.7, P = 0.3) The total rate of malformations was higher in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer infants than the naturally conceived. The pooled RR for the study was 1.3 (95% CI: 1.26 - 1.43, Z = 8.67, P = 0.00). The cumulative summary effects showed that the larger the sample size, the more accurate the estimation. Publication bias were not found in the study, by using Egger's test method (P = 0.2). In dividing the type of the newborn malformations, the rate of cardiovascular defects in in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer infants was higher than in the naturally conceived. The summy RR for the study was 1.48 (95% CI: 1.2 -1.7, Z = 4.5, P = 0. 0).

CONCLUSIONSThe total rate of malformations and the cardiovascular defects in in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer infants was higher than in the naturally conceived.

Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Embryo Transfer ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn

Congenital Abnormalities - epidemiology ; Congenital Abnormalities - prevention & ; control ; Infant Mortality ; Infant, Newborn ; Papua New Guinea - epidemiology ; Primary Prevention - methods

A daily record was made of defects recognizable at birth or soon afterwards in 10,000 babies born consecutively at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea, between January 1985 and May 1986. The overall prevalence of birth defects in this series was 1.16%. All of the affected babies were singletons, 27% presented with multiple defects, and 14% were stillborn. There was a predominance of male babies in the series as a whole and more particularly in the group of affected babies (female:male ratios 1:1.15 and 1:1.50 respectively). The parts of the body most commonly affected were the limbs, head and neck, and central nervous system. The majority of the mothers originated from provinces neighbouring Port Moresby, although all the provinces were represented. Defects were more common in babies of mothers from island provinces (1.9%) than from highland (1.1%) or coastal/lowland (1.0%) provinces. The mean birthweight for all the babies in the series for whom records were available was 3.03 kg (SD 0.57), and for the abnormal babies 2.86 kg (SD 0.70). The highest mean birthweight was recorded for babies of highland mothers and the lowest for babies of coastal/lowland mothers.
Birth Weight ; Congenital Abnormalities - classification ; Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Papua New Guinea - epidemiology ; Population Surveillance ; Prevalence

OBJECTIVETo study the prevalence rates of birth defects in high and low risk areas in China.

METHODSA population-based surveillance system on birth defects was used to obtain the prevalence rates of 24 kinds of major external birth defects from > or = 20 weeks of gestation to 7 days of life in selected areas in Shanxi and Jiangsu provinces.

RESULTSThe birth prevalence of birth defects (232.4 per 10,000 births) and neural tube defects (NTDs) (138.7 per 10,000 births) in four counties of Shanxi province were significantly higher than that in Taiyuan city (75.3 and 28.2 per 10,000 births, respectively). There was no significant difference for all selected birth defects between Wuxi city and Xishan counties in low risk areas. There was a 6.1-fold of higher prevalence for NTDs in Taiyuan city compared with that in Wuxi areas (4.6 per 10,000 births). In four counties of Shanxi province, the prevalence rates of anencephaly, spina bifida, hydrocephaly, cleft palate alone and polydactyly were significantly higher than in Wuxi areas. The NTDs prevalence rate in four counties of Shanxi was 30.2 times higher than in Wuxi areas. When compared with previous surveillance data, the NTDs prevalence rate did not present obvious declining trend in high risk areas. The birth prevalence rate had a 31.8% decrease when births were calculated after 28 gestational weeks and compared with those from 20 gestational weeks.

CONCLUSIONNTDs remained to be the most common birth defect seen in Shanxi province. The birth prevalence rate of NTDs in some areas of Shanxi province was among the highest that ever reported in the world in comparison with data from other countries and regions. The current prevalence rate in high risk areas in Shanxi province did not clearly show a declining trend. Programs on surveillance and prenatal diagnosis were proved to have made big impact on the rates of major external birth defects.

China ; epidemiology ; Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Neural Tube Defects ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Ear Diseases ; congenital ; epidemiology ; Ear, External ; abnormalities ; Ear, Middle ; abnormalities ; Female ; Humans ; Male