Congenital
malformations are anatomical or structural abnormalities present at birth. They
may be macroscopic or microscopic, on the body or within the body depending on
the mode of presentation. The major congenital malformations result in
mortality (death) and significant morbidity (unwholesomeness of feelings or
ideas), while the minor congenital malformations will not affect life
prospectus or expectancy (Young, 1992). Teratology is the study of birth
defects and their causes and includes investigations pertaining to both
structural and
behavioral abnormalities.
(Young, 1992) also reports that the figures of the incidences in the
neonate period represent only a part of the actual incidence of congenital
malformations.
(Sadler, 1990) examined the
relationship between defects in pregnancy and the development of congenital
malformations, in population based retrospective study using birth certificate
data for all life born children in his research.
Births to mothers with established
and congenital defects numbered 1511 and 8869 respectively. For comparison,
Sadler selected 8934 births to mothers without defects. The prevalence of
congenital malformations in these areas were 7.2%, 2.8% and 2.1% among others
with established defects, congenital defects and without defects. Newborn of
mothers with established defects were more likely to have a congenital
malformation than newborns of non-defective mothers.
In contrasts, there was only a
slight higher prevalence of congenital malformation among newborn of mothers
with congenital malformations. The association with maternal established defect
was greater for neonates with multiple malformations than for single
malformations (Sadler, 1990).
The percentage of occurrences of
anomalies across the world reflects the geographic area for which it came from.
The percentage given by Merck from the USA is 3-4% and may rise to 7% by
age 5 (Merck, 2003). In Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Studies show that there is
an infant mortality rate of 85% per thousand life births and a high rate of
still births (Nigerian fertility survey, 1981-1982). The number or percentage
of malformations would probably be much higher as most spontaneously aborted
pregnancies are as a result of malformations. (Young, 1992) stated that 15% of
all recognized pregnancies with abnormalities result in spontaneous abortion
before 12 weeks with 80% of spontaneously aborted embryos having major
disturbances of development as a result of non-viable cytogenetic abnormality.
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ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS OF CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS
GENETIC FACTORS OF THE INCIDENCE OF CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS ON THE FACE AN HEAD OF NEW BORN BABIES
AETIOLOGY AND CONSEQUENCES OF CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS
LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE INCIDENCE OF CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS ON THE FACE AN HEAD OF NEW BORN BABIES
AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF STUDYING THE INCIDENCE OF CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS ON THE FACE AN HEAD OF NEW BORN BABIES
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