Prevalence of Congenital Anomalies in the Northwest of Iran

Every year, about three hundred thousands of infant deaths occur because of congenital anomalies. Some continue to live with various types of disabilities. Low and middle income countries have higher rate of congenital anomalies. It is estimated more than 100,000 cases of birth defcets occure annualy in Iran where 70 percent are preventable. There is no long term investigation on the epidemiology and secular trend of congenital anomalies in Iran. The aim of this study was to document the time trend and epidemiological features of congenital anomalies in the northwest of Iran using the Tabriz Registry of Congenital Anomalies (TRoCA) programme.

A total of 297,734 births were registered in the region by TRoCA registry during the study period to estimate the occurrence of total and selected groups of congenital anomalies based on the standard coding system of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Total prevalence was calculated by dividing the numerator (registered cases of congenital anomalies in the TRoCA region) by the relevant denominator (total live and stillbirths in the TRoCA region) for the same period of time.

An overall prevalence rate of 262.9 (CI95%:257.2–268.7) was estimated in the region. Anomalies of genito-urinary tract (59.2 per 10 000 births, 95% CI: 56.5–62.0), limb defects (46.3 per 10 000 births, 95% CI: 43.9.5–48.8), nervous system anomalies (39.4 per 10 000 births, 95% CI: 37.2–41.7), gastrointestinal anomalies (27.8 per 10 000 births, 95% CI: 25.9–29.7) and congenital heart diseases (37.1 per 10 000 births, 95% CI: 34.9–39.3) were accounted for 80 percent of birth defects. Total prevalence of anomalies was more than tripled in the region over the past two decades. More cases were observed in males, and those with consanguineous marriage.

The increasing trend of the occurrence of congenital anomalies indicates that appropriate care programmes and more effective prenatal screening procedures need to be implemented in the region.