Incidence and pattern of congenital malformations in Gorgan-north of Iran

Congenital malformations are emerged as a common cause of fetal death and one of the most important causes of prenatal mortality and morbidity. This study was done to determine the incidence and pattern of congenital malformations in a referral hospital in Gorgan, North of Iran. This cross-sectional study was done on 6204 live birth in Dezyani hospital in Gorgan, North of Iran during a 12-month period from January 1st to December 31st of 2007. Gender, type of congenital malformations according to International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and maternal ethnicity were recorded. Data for each newborn was filled in a questionnaire. Data analyzed by using SPSS software version 16 and �2 test. The overall incidence of congenital malformations among newborns was 17.7 per 1000 live births. The incidence of congenital malformations was 22.4 per 1000 in males (RR = 1.68 Q95%: 1.14-2.48) and 13.06 per 1000 in females. Anomalies of the central nervous system had the highest incidence (7.3 per 1000) followed by congenital heart defects (5.2 per 1000) and musculoskeletal system (3.7 per 1000) births. According to ethnicity the incidence rate of congenital malformations was 16.5,17.2 and 20 per 1000 live births in native Fars, Turkman (RR = 1.04 CI95%:65-1.67) and Sistani (RR = 1.2 CI95%: 0.78-1.85) groups, respectively. This study showed that the incidence rate of congenital malformations is increased from 10.1 -17.7 per 1000 live birth in Northern Iran during an 8 years period