Epidemiology of congenital gastrointestinal anomalies in live newborns in Tuzla Canton

Abstract

Objective - The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiologic characteristics of gastrointestinal anomaly (GIA) in newborns in the Tuzla Canton.

Patients and methods - We analyzed retrospectively the medical records of live newborns with GIA born at the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Tuzla in the period from 1.1.1998 to 31.12.2007. A questionnaire was used to gather data on the mothers’ age, gestational age, birth weight and presence of an anomaly. According to gestational age the patients were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of newborns born before the 37th week of gestation and the second group consisted of newborns with gestational age between 37-42 weeks. According to birth weight the patients were divided into 3 groups: eutrophic, hypertrophic and hypotrophic, and in relation to mothers’ age they were grouped into 3 groups: from 16 to 20, from 21 to 35 and from 36 to 40 years.

Results - During period in question 69 live newborns were registered with GIA. The lowest prevalence was 6.6/104 in 2001 and the highest prevalence was 31.2/104 in 2004. The most frequent GIA was congenital diaphragmatic hernia with a prevalence of 4.2/104 , and the rarest was omphalocele with a prevalence of 0.2/104 . There was no significant difference between male and female newborns with GIA. Of the total number of newborns with GIA, 58 or 84.1% were eutrophic, 32 or 46.4% were preterm’s with average gestational age of 34,8±1,3 weeks and of the total number of preterm newborns, 29 or 90.6% were eutrophic. Associated anomalies were most frequent with duodenal atresia (75.0%) and rarest in newborns with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (5.3%).

Conclusion - The overall prevalence of GIA during the period in question was 15.3/104 . Newborns with GIA were equally distributed according to sex and most of them were born from mothers in the age group from 21 to 35 years. GIA in newborns in nearly half of cases were in preterm babies, but a high percentage were eutrophic. In our study we noted a low association of GIA with other system anomalies.