Prevalence of Anencephaly in the Region of Rijeka, Croatia

This retrospective study determines the prevalence of anencephaly in the region of Rijeka, Croatia. Records of all spontaneous and therapeutic abortions terminated in medical institutions, all fetuses weighing more than 500 g or more than 22 weeks gestation (whether the product of abortion, therapeu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of epidemiology 2001-01, Vol.17 (3), p.241-244
Main Authors: Loncarek, Karmen, Mustac, Elvira, Frkovic, Aleksandra, Prodan, Mirko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anencephaly
Anencephaly - epidemiology
Autopsies
Biological and medical sciences
Births
Congenital defects
Croatia - epidemiology
Developing countries
Etiology
Female
Females
Fetal Death
Fetus
Geographic regions
Gestational Age
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Infants
LDCs
Male
Malformations of the nervous system
Medical sciences
Neural tube defects
Neurology
Pregnancy
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Sex Factors
Stillbirth
Terminator regions
Ultrasonography
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Summary:This retrospective study determines the prevalence of anencephaly in the region of Rijeka, Croatia. Records of all spontaneous and therapeutic abortions terminated in medical institutions, all fetuses weighing more than 500 g or more than 22 weeks gestation (whether the product of abortion, therapeutic termination, stillborn or liveborn) and infants who died in the first year of life in the region of Rijeka, Croatia, during the 1963-2000 period were reviewed. There were 135,451 births; 22 of them were anencephalics (19 stillborn), which comprises 0.2% of all births and 2.1% of stillbirths. Annual prevalence of anencephaly varied in range from 0.00 to 7.42 per 10,000 births. In two cases pregnancy was electively terminated after ultrasonographic diagnosis of anencephaly. Fifteen anencephalics were female, six were male, and in one case sex was undetermined due to aplasia of genital organs. Associated congenital malformations were detected in 18 anencephalics. The importance of establishing national and international registers of congenital malformations in all countries is stressed. The authors suggested that the setting of obligatory reporting of all congenital malformations would be the first step toward this practice in Croatia, as well as in other developing countries.
ISSN:0393-2990
1573-7284
DOI:10.1023/A:1017981815982