[Major birth defects in a third-level hospital in Cali, Colombia, 2004-2008].

OBJECTIVE

Determining the prevalence of infant birth defects and describing sociodemographic factors associated with the occurrence of these diseases in a tertiary hospital in the city of Cali in Colombia.

METHODOLOGY: Data from the Valle Teaching Hospital's surveillance system was analysed, covering March 2004 to October 2008. The methodology proposed by the Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations in Latin-America (ECLAMC) was followed for determining birth defect occurrence. Tables and graphs were constructed for describing the characteristics of the new-born, their parents and the resulting pregnancies.

RESULTS

There were 32,995 births during the study period (4 years and 7 months); there was at least one birth defect in 735 of them, giving a 2.22 per 10,000 births prevalence. The major birth defects having the highest prevalence were polydactyly (22.1 per 10,000 births), clubfoot (17.6), hydrocephalus (16.4), neural tube defects (16.7), limb reduction defects (8.2), cleft lip or cleft palate (10.9), heart defects (14.6), hydronephrosis (11.5), gastroschisis (7.3), cyclopia (2.4) and sirenomelia (1.2),

DISCUSSION: The prevalence of birth defects related to environmental factors such as hydrocephalus, limb reduction defects, clubfoot, hydronephrosis, gastroschisis, cyclopia and sirenomelia showed higher prevalence compared to those reported in the pertinent literature. Some hypotheses which could explain such increase are reported.